In the Sun
by Literal Metaphor
Summary: It's not all rainbows and sunshine when Senshi fall in love, with eachother. Completed.
1. One

>_ "I picture you in the sun wondering what went wrong  
And falling down on your knees asking for sympathy  
And being caught in between all you wish for and all you seen  
And trying to find anything you can feel that you can believe in." _

"Stop looking at me like that."

Minako grinned from her seat on the floor. "Like what?" Rei glared at her. "Like _that_."

"Why Rei, whatever do you mean?"

"I'm serious Mina. I told you already, we just can't today." Mina pouted. "You don't have to be so mean about it..."

"I'm not being mean!" Rei paused and sighed. "And stop pouting."

Mina pouted more and her bottom lip began to tremble. Rei just shook her head and gave in; first making sure the door was closed, then gently putting her arms around the blonde. Mina grinned, pressing her body deeper into Rei's.

"You're such an actress."

"Mmm hmmm... Rei, look at me." The miko reluctantly peered into Minako's eyes.

"I love you." she whispered before pressing her lips firmly against her best friend's.

The squeak and slide of an opening door reminded the two that their time together was limited. Rei cursed under her breath and pulled from Minako hurredly, inadvertedly

pushing the girl to the floor. She just lay there as three other teenagers and two cats entered Rei's room.

"Hi Rei-- Oh Mina! I almost stepped on you, why are you lying on the floor?" Usagi asked, alongside Ami and Makoto. Mina's eyes were closed and she sighed deeply.

"I dunno. Maybe I'm tired."

"You should take a quick nap if you're that tired." Makoto suggested.

"Maybe... Excuse me." she said, rushing out of the room. Ami, Makoto, and Usagi, turned from watching Mina's back to staring at the top of Rei's head. The miko's head was ducked and she was concentrated on a spot on the floor.

"Rei..." Her head snapped. "What? Are we gonna study or just stand

around?"

"Sure, sure Rei, I'll just get some snacks for us okay?" Makoto said, turning worried eyes towards the direction Minako left in. Rei huffed and glared at the other two, left awkwardly standing with their books in hand. Usagi and Ami gave each other concerned glances and sat down with Rei to study.

Minako stiffened and brushed away errant tears from her eyes nonchalantly, as soon as she felt Makoto coming up behind her on the front porch.

"Mina-chan..." The blonde's head turned slightly to face her friend, but her eyes still focused on some far off object.

"Hey Mako-chan."

"Ummm, what's up?"

"Same old, same old." she half-whispered, with some bite in it. Makoto sighed, and looked towards the far off object.

"So you're not gonna tell me what's bothering you?"

Mina finally broke her stare and looked at her friend.

"There's nothing bothering me."

"Y'know it hurts when you lie to your best friend."

"Mako-chan... I've just been in a bad mood, that's all."

Makoto scratched her head, trying to piece together things in her mind. "That's just the thing, Mina-chan, lately you've been in a bad mood a lot. Well, a lot more than we're used to from you." Makoto chuckled. "We expect these sorts of mood swings from Rei."

The way Minako's eyes darted into Makoto's seemed to shake her soul. She had to blink a few times before she continued. "I mean, you've been so up and down lately, it's becoming kinda concerning. For instance, yesterday when I talked to you on the phone you said you slept over Rei's house and you two had a great time and then when you came to the Crown that afternoon you looked, I dunno, kinda dejected."

"Dejected?" Mina thought back to why she would feel like that on that particular afternoon. "Oh, yeah..." She and Rei had a slight contradiction during the walk there. "Can't even hold hands..." she spat under her breath.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"No, you said something about hands."

"No I didn't."

"Yeah, sure. But do you get it? What's been going on?" Minako furrowed her eyebrows and looked at Makoto and then out to the distance.

"Mako-chan, you've been in a serious relationship right?" Makoto was a bit thrown by the question.

"Wha? Uhh, yeah, actually I have. My old sempai was--" Minako cut her off. "Suppose you were in a relationship with a person who you care deeply about. Suppose that you had to keep this relationship a secret. Suppose that this made you very unhappy, although it kept you with the person you cared about indefinitely, opposed to if it wasn't a secret, where there would be a chance, a slight chance, that you may be kept apart because of the, ummm, nature of this person you cared about. What would you do? Keep the secret to keep the person happy for a silly reason or spill and make the person unhappy and maybe risk everything for a damn good reason. Hmm?"

Makoto blinked a few times. "Aino Minako... Are you seeing a married man?"

Minako slapped her forehead. "No, I just... Just answer the question."

"Well I guess it would depend on the 'reason' that you speak of."

"Suppose the reason, in your mind, wasn't good enough to keep the secret."

"I guess I wouldn't keep it anymore then."

"Risking making this person unhappy and blowing the entire relationship?"

"Well when you put it that way, then I'd keep the secret."

"But it made you unhappy and put a strain on the relationship…"

Makoto shook her head and flailed her arms in the air, attempting to knock away the brainteasers.

"Jeese, I dunno Minako, shouldn't you know all this, Ms. Goddess of Love?"

Minako's face became thoughtful. "You're absolutely right. I am the Goddess of Love. Thanks a lot Mako-chan."

Makoto became confused as she watched the blond waltz back to Rei's room.

"Hey! Wait! What was all that about?!"

Rei watched her girlfriend attentively throughout the study session. She had realized what she did and guilt compressed her heart. She had been inadvertently hurting Minako lately and although it seemed like she didn't realize it, she did, and it hurt her as much to be doing that to someone she loved. She tried to will Minako to make eye contact with her, but the blonde would only briefly meet her eyes before fluttering away teasingly. Rei knew she deserved this at least, but it annoyed her to be left wondering if Minako's suddenly bright mood was only a facade. She'd have to wait.

"See you tomorrow Rei-chan!" Usagi waved as she and Ami and Makoto prepared to leave. "Hey Mina-chan, aren't you coming?"

"In a minute Usagi, I can't find my notebook…"

"It's in the kitchen. I'll get it for you." Rei offered.

"Okay."

Rei took one step and realized Minako wasn't following her. "Are you coming?"

"For what?" She smiled innocently at Rei who in turn gave her an agitated look.

"To make sure it's _your_ notebook." With that she grabbed the blonde's hand and pulled her into the kitchen.

"Jeese Rei. It's just a notebook…"

"No it's not just the notebook." The miko sighed and ran a hand through her thick hair. "I'm sorry, okay?"

"Sorry for…?"

"Mina. You know what I'm talking about. And I'm sorry. Alright? That's the last time I'm going to say it because I promise it'll never happen again."

Minako looked away and considered Rei's apology. The fact that she was getting an apology at all from Hino Rei was incredible. Her hand found Rei's and she decided that was all she needed.

"It's okay. It's just that… I dunno. Sometimes it feels like you…"

"Like I what?"

"Mina-chan! Didya find it, we're ready to leave!"

Minako shook her head and gave her girlfriend a quick kiss on the cheek.

"I'll talk to you tomorrow. Love you."

Rei watched her leave and started to miss her already. "Love you too." She said to no one.

The tossing and turning she had done all night wasn't the kind Rei appreciated, and her friends could tell she hadn't woken up on the right side of the bed, if such a thing existed for the temperamental miko. So they wisely avoided eye contact and mumbled their greetings, only hoping that the storm in her eyes would pass, as they took up their customary walk to school.

Minako slowed her pace to walk beside her, trying to get her attention somehow without the others noticing. Rei was normally grumpy in the mornings, but today it seemed like her petulance was aimed in her direction. Her arm casually brushed against Rei's, causing the miko to visibly stiffen.

Without thinking her eyes snapped on Rei's and she glared at her.

"What is your problem?" she whispered harshly, at this point not caring if the others heard.

Rei's deep eyes shifted around uncomfortably, certain that at the least Usagi's ears were perked up and listening. She faced in front of her and stared at the back of Makoto's head, knowing Minako was burning a whole in to the side of her face with her eyes.

"What are you talking about?" she replied nonchalantly, trying to focus her eyes on Makoto's ponytail swaying in front of her. She didn't want to look at Minako at the moment.

Minako's eyes narrowed and her mouth moved as if she wanted to say something more, but wouldn't say it.

Usagi, Ami, and Makoto stopped suddenly, causing Rei to walk smack into Makoto's back.

"Oof—Wha?"

"Bye Rei! See ya after school!" Usagi said waving, as did Ami and Makoto, making Rei realize they had arrived at her school.

"Oh yeah… Bye guys." She weakly waved back, noticing Minako already walking in the opposite direction.

With furrowed eyebrows and stress already apparent on her face, she stalked into T&A, glowering past meek underclassmen who yelped as they got out of the way.

Minako grew more and more upset each minute that she thought about her girlfriend's behavior that morning. She had no idea where the sudden and uncalled for attitude had come from. Just the thought of how Rei acted made her screech and pound her fist on the desk. Unfortunately no one could sympathize since they were all in the middle of a math lesson.

"Aino?" the elderly algebra teacher questioned, giving her a puzzled look, along with Usagi and Ami and the entire class.

She put on her best pseudo-smile and laughed nervously. "Sorry Sensei! This, " She quickly looked at Ami's notebook to see what they were supposed to be learning, "this remainder theorem is killer."

"Well, you'd better find some help before the test." The teacher turned back to the blackboard and continued with his lesson, allowing Minako to release a relieved sigh.

She dismissed Usagi and Ami's questioning looks with quick thumbs up and put her chin in her hand and tried to focus on the remainder theorem for the rest of the period, lest she start thinking about Rei again and work herself into a rage in front of the whole class.

"Where's Minako?" Rei asked immediately upon noticing only Usagi, Ami, and Makoto arriving at the shrine.

"Hello to you too," Makoto's sarcasm served to embarrass Rei, but she answered her question, "She said she wasn't feeling well, and thought she'd be better off skipping today's meeting."

"Which is unfortunate, since she was having trouble with the remainder theorem in class today," Ami said, scratching her chin thoughtfully, "But she did seem very distraught over something."

Rei remained quiet as they took their seats at the table in her room. It wasn't beyond her that she was a bit too unkind to Minako in the morning. But the feeling Minako left her with the night before seemed like a good enough reason to be a little cross with her at the time. But now she knew she was in trouble, and this time her usually merciful girlfriend would not be so gracious. There was only one thing she could do to make things right, and she cursed gently under her breath as she realized what had to be done.

Running a shaky hand through her thick hair, she inhaled and exhaled deeply before addressing her friends.

"Listen you guys," her serious tone caught the attention of her three fellow senshi quickly, "There's something you need to know."

Artemis purred and rubbed his coat against her ankles with all his might, but he could not get his master out of her miserable state. She just continued to sigh deeply and stare out the window.

"Oh come on Minako!" he yelled, jumping up onto the window sill. "You can't sit around like this all day. At least tell me what's bothering you."

Minako picked him up and scratched his head, grateful that she had him around when she couldn't talk to anyone else. "It's Rei," she finally told him.

Artemis tried not to roll his eyes. He truly did sympathize, but it seemed like lately those two were fighting everyday. And since he had disagreed with the whole thing in the beginning, it became more difficult to suppress the urge to blurt out "I told you so!"

But he only shook his head and jumped out of her arms.

"I just hope you're not getting hurt. It wouldn't be ideal to have you grieving a broken heart or being emotionally torn by someone you have to protect and be protected by everyday. Above all else, you have to remember that first you two are senshis and then…" he said the word slowly and with obvious distaste, "girlfriends."

"Lovers," she corrected him with a grin. Underneath all that senshi talk, she knew Artemis was concerned the most with Minako and not Sailor Venus when it came to Rei.

Resuming her aimless habit, she put her chin in her hand and gazed through the window once more. A person approaching her house caught her eye.

"Kami, "she sighed, "Is she serious?"

She got up suddenly and left the room, causing Artemis to sigh as he left his comfortable position and follow her.

For the fiftieth time Rei asked herself what she was doing and for the fiftieth time she rationalized with herself. She smiled meekly when Minako swung open her front door and glared at her. Minako was the first to speak since Rei couldn't find her voice.

"What are you doing here?" There was just a hint of anger in her voice.

Rei raised her eyes from her feet to look at Minako, for the first time that day. "We need to talk." Her own voice was steadier than she imagined it to be.

"Oh? So now you want to talk? This morning you completely blew me off and now we need to talk?"

Artemis padded silently beside her and upon seeing Rei nudged her with his head in an attempt to soothe her oncoming anger.

Rei sighed and tried not to become impatient. "I'm sorry about that. I had a lot on my mind."

"That doesn't make things any better, Rei."

"I know, but hear me out. I was thinking about a lot of things last night, including you and me," Minako tilted her head as she listened to Rei, wondering where she was going with this. "I know what you want to happen, and for a long time I wasn't ready for it to happen, and I'm still not. But it's for the best, so…"

"So… What do you mean?" Minako asked cautiously, not willing to get her hopes up, even though she took a few steps closer to Rei.

Rei smiled, hoping she was doing the right thing, and seeing Minako's face she knew she was. "I mean," she took out her communicator and opened it, showing Usagi, Ami, and Makoto, all gathered and peering into Ami's communicator at the shrine. "This is what I couldn't tell you guys. I have to show you."

Before Minako could react Rei was kissing her and there was gasps emitting from the communicator. This kiss was gentle and affectionate, made sweeter when Minako finally realized what Rei was doing. She was outing them.

They clung to each other while catching their breath, then remembered what the point of it was. Apprehensively they turned their eyes on the communicator and braced their selves.

Not one of them uttered a word. They seemed as if they were petrified and were unable to move. All of their eyes were wide, two mouths hung open, and one bore a slight smile.

Makoto found her voice first. "Ho… ly… shi—"

"Implausible…" Ami muttered. "I never would have guessed…" She seemed to still be grasping the concept of what had just occurred.

"I can't believe it, " Usagi finally murmured. "I always thought Rei had a thing for me."

Minako and Rei did all they could to keep from falling over, while Ami and Makoto turned their shocked gazes on her.

"What? Don't tell me you all didn't think so too?"

Rei balked. "_I_ didn't!"

"I can see what you mean Usagi," Minako ignored the look Rei gave her. "But she's mine."

Usagi giggled at the scene on Ami's communicator. "I don't think Mamo-chan would appreciate that very much… or maybe he would? I did find these really ecchi magazines under his bed one day—"

"Usagi!" Rei cut her off. "No one wants to know. But Mina and I, you guys are okay with it, right?"

Usagi's smile took up the entire communicator screen, easing the anxiety in Rei's chest. "Why wouldn't we be? I'm perfectly fine with it, and Ami-chan and Mako-chan," she elbowed Makoto to get her and Ami out of their dazed stupor.

"Oh sure, sure, sure," Makoto assured them. "At least you're not with a married man, Mina-chan."

Minako had to ignore the inquisitive look Rei shot her after that comment.

Ami took a minute to collect her thoughts before speaking. "It will take some time to get used to. But I see no objection."

"Good. I'm glad you all have no objections," Artemis said, jumping onto Minako's shoulder and addressing the communicator. "Then it'll be easier to explain it to Luna."

"Oh stop ruining the moment Artemis," Minako said, shaking him off.

"We'll have to get back to our studying," Ami informed them, always the one to bring up schoolwork. "Rei, are you coming back or should we move to another location?"

Rei looked at Minako, who smirked at her. She took the communicator from Rei and answered, "You should definitely move Ami-chan." With that she shut down the communicator and with an impish smile pulled Rei by the front of her shirt in to the house, slamming the door in Artemis' face.

"As long as they're in there, I'm glad I'm out here." He sighed and settled down to take a nap in the sun.

"Okaaaay," Makoto rubbed her face and paced around her living room, where the three of them had relocated to. "That was a bit of a shocker."

Ami tapped her chin thoughtfully with the end of a pencil. "It's fairly obvious when you think about it. Their behavior lately was rather unusual. This morning, for example."

"You're right Ami-chan!" Usagi piped, spewing crumbs of Makoto's home baked cookies. "It sounded like they were having a fight or something this morning. That's why Mina-chan didn't want to come to the meeting today!"

Makoto plopped down on the couch and put her feet up on the coffee table. "I bet they're not _fighting_ anymore," she chuckled, making Usagi almost choke on her cookie and Ami's ears turn red.

Usagi's eyebrows furrowed as she became contemplative. "Mako-chan do you mean… They don't actually do… that stuff… do you think?"

Makoto grinned as she watched Ami turn progressively more crimson. "Who knows? But I think we should cut this talk out, they'd kill us. And Ami-chan might die if anymore blood rushes to her head."

Ami startled when she heard her name. "It's just a little inappropriate."

"But would you have guessed?" Usagi exclaimed excitedly. "Mina-chan's so boy crazy and Rei's so… not a lesbian."

Makoto and Ami looked at her with perplexity.

"How do you figure? I mean, you thought she liked you!" Makoto pointed out, with some amusement.

"Well she went out with Mamo-chan, so it would make sense that she'd like me! It's something they call it…"

"Displacement." Ami clarified. "I don't think that's what happened."

"Is it so hard to believe that they just fell for each other?" Makoto asked seriously.

The three of them looked at each other and pondered the question.

Usagi shrugged. "They'd have pretty babies."

Neither Makoto nor Ami bothered to comment.

The dark eyed beauty practically kicked up her heels as she walked home from Minako's house, much spring in her step. She was lighter, untroubled, generally happy, since revealing their secret to their friends two weeks ago. It was apparent what the cause of her and Minako's problems had been and now that it wasn't a factor anymore, they lived in utter bliss. The youma attacks had been sparse lately, and those that happened weren't much of a challenge. Life was good.

"I'm home Grandpa," Rei called out upon entering the shrine and seeing the old man in the kitchen. She smiled at him and kissed the top of his bald head.

He chuckled at her, somewhat rare, exuberance. "What gives you such high spirits today, my child?" He asked, putting a bowl of potatoes in front of her to peel.

Her smile faltered slightly at the task she was presented with, but shone again as she answered him. "I just feel good, Grandpa."

"And what is making you feel this good?"

Rei raised an eyebrow at his sudden curiosity in her mood. "Uh, I don't know Grandpa. It feels like… I'm living again."

"You were not living?"

"Something like that," Rei took a good look at the old man. He wasn't really her parent, but he was the closest thing she had; with her mother gone and her father, who might as well be. If her best friends took it easily, then he would too. He understood her. "Grandpa, I was at Minako's house. That's where I just came from."

"Yes? Minako is the one with the bow?" He asked, but Rei knew it was a front. He used to leer at her the most.

"That's her. You like her right?"

"She's a nice girl. Very vibrant. And pretty, very pretty."

Rei took a deep breath. "Um… I'm seeing her, Grandpa."

"Mm hmm." Rei waited for a follow-up to this non-syllabic answer, but none was forthcoming. He just continued to chop vegetables and stir the boiling pot of rice.

"Grandpa? Don't you have… a reaction?"

The old man looked at her once and then turned back to his pot. "Reaction to what my dear?"

Rei was baffled. "To what I just told you! I'm seeing Minako!"

He chuckled at that, making Rei question the possibility of senility in the elder priest. "I see Minako too, my dear. We all see her. Do you mean you see her right now? Because she isn't here. And that would be a problem. But you are healthy aren't you? You don't look feverish. Perhaps if you ate those mushrooms that were leftover from last night, it would have that effect. Or…" He looked at her suddenly, "Rei are you doing drugs?"

Rei looked at him blankly. Slowly she erupted. "What?! NO! Grandpa, don't you get it? I'm not seeing her right now, but I'm seeing her. Like, SEEING her. I'm with her Grandpa."

"You're with her?" The old man sighed. "Rei, I didn't think I'd have to talk to you about such things. Drugs are bad—"

"NO! GRANPA I'M NOT ON DRUGS!!" Rei flailed around with a potato and knife in hand, trying to get through to the old-timer. She put the vegetable and potential weapon down slowly and breathed calmly. After she was composed again, she attempted to be straightforward with him. "Grandpa listen to me. Minako and I are together, meaning I'm not hallucinating about her right now. She's my… girlfriend." The look on the elder priests face showed that he needed more explanation. Rei tried to be as simple as possible. "If she was a guy, she'd be my boyfriend. But she is a girl, therefore she is my girlfriend. Do you get it? We're… involved."

Enlightenment dawned on the old man's face. "Are you telling that, you are… romantic, with this girl?"

Rei closed her eyes and nodded. "Yes."

He looked suddenly weaker than she ever saw him, and helped him over to a chair. He leaned his bald head on a propped up hand and shook it solemnly. "Great grandchildren…"

"Grandpa, talk to me."

Rei kneeled down near him and he put an encouraging hand on her head. "This is unexpected."

Rei nodded and took his hand. "It's alright Grandpa."

"It's not though, my child. I'm your guardian. But your father… He will not be pleased."

Rei shrugged. She figured he was so far removed from her life anyway that it wouldn't matter either way. "We don't have to tell him."

The old man shook his head. "I can't do that. I owe it to him and your mother. He wished for you…"

"What Grandpa?"

He patted her head as he frowned. "He wants you to marry soon."

Rei was stunned. A skeptical eyebrow rose. "Are you kidding? He wasn't serious. I'm seventeen!"

"Your mother married him when she was nineteen. He is looking for a—"

Rei jumped up and put her hands over her ears. "I don't want to hear anymore Grandpa. That's ridiculous, he's ridiculous. Can't even tell me that he's planning my future, when he's not even apart of my present. It's stupid, and I don't want to hear another word about it."

"Rei," She sullenly looked over at her grandfather. "Think about what your mother would want."

She looked at her feet and thought about it. She arrived at the answer fairly easily as she thought about her mother. "I'm in love Grandpa. I know what she wants."

>Stay tuned.


	2. Two

>_Don't call me daughter. Not fit to.  
The picture kept will remind me.  
She holds the hand that holds her down.  
She will rise above. _

"Psst, Ami-chan. Don't look now, but I think that guy at the counter is checking you out."

Not heeding Makoto's advice, Ami curiously looked over her shoulder at her friend's observation. The plain-looking teenager just sucked down more of his milkshake as he eyed the booth that Ami, Makoto, Usagi, Mamoru, Rei, and Minako shared at the Crown.

"No," Ami stated, with a tinge of barely noticeable disappointment in her voice. "He's looking at Mina-chan."

"He better not be." Rei put a protective arm around her girlfriend, whose grin rivaled the Cheshire cat's. Ever since they toppled out of the closet, public display of affection was rampant between them. It took some getting used to for the rest of the senshi, until they learned to treat it like Usagi and Mamoru's behavior. Mamoru himself always tried to look away politely, but sometimes his eyes would slowly crawl back, until they caught him, and he would look away again as if nothing had happened.

As for the Outers, it was hard to tell if they were really surprised or not. Haruka couldn't help laughing while Michiru elbowed her in the side and congratulated them with a smile. Setsuna wore that all-knowing smile that she had on most of the time, as if she had predicted the entire thing and was just waiting for it to happen. Rei was tempted to ask her if she had, neither she nor the others would put it past the time senshi.

"I think you should go talk to him Ami-chan. Go strut your stuff and give him your number." Usagi suggested, excited by the possibility of a date for Ami.

"What? No! I could never— He's not even looking at me!"

"Yes he is. It's hard to tell because of the glare off his glasses. He seems like your type." Rei told her.

Ami turned a confused look to her. "How do you know that?"

"Umm I don't know…" Rei wasn't expecting to have to explain her baseless assumption. "Because he wears glasses…?"

Ami just sighed and sipped her soda. It seemed like everyone was pairing off and now her friends were trying to get a date for "poor lonely Ami". She scoffed to herself. Why didn't they do it to Makoto? Probably because she was so capable of finding someone for herself. Or maybe it just seemed that way because she exuded so much confidence. Ami scratched her chin thoughtfully. What _was_ her type?

Ami's thoughts were jarred as her attention, as well as the rest of the table's, turned to someone approaching them.

A brown-eyed teen with an easy smile stopped in front of Makoto and delivered a quiet, "Hi."

Perplexing to the rest, Makoto kept her head down and focused on the sundae in front of her, swirling the vanilla and chocolate as she pretended not to hear him.

"Mako-chan," Minako poked the girl in the side. She pointed at him and mouthed the words, "Cutie. Go for it."

Makoto looked around the table and realized she couldn't keep ignoring him. With a deep breath she said, "Hi."

"It's nice to see you." He said uneasily, looking at his shoes.

Makoto just nodded.

"I wish we could talk…"

The entire table froze as they realized who it was. Usagi quietly squeaked, but not quietly enough for Makoto not to glare at her. She sighed, pushed her sundae away and rose from the table.

"I guess we have to. Come on." She led him out of the Crown to the surprise and bewilderment of the entire group.

"Kami! Do you know who that was?" Minako asked excitedly.

"Her old sempai! I never saw him before." Usagi answered, also excited. She turned to Mamoru. "He's cute isn't he?"

Mamoru looked at her. "He's okay—I mean, why are you asking me that?!"

"Wasn't that crazy, Makoto's old boyfriend showing up?"

Rei nodded and muttered something, as she and Minako walked home together from the Crown. Minako leaned closer to Rei and slipped her hand into hers. "What's up Rei? You're too quiet."

She smiled fondly at her blonde girlfriend and squeezed her hand. "I've just been thinking of something."

"Like what?"

"Well… My father's coming back soon, in a week or so."

Minako looked at the ground instead of Rei, wondering where this was leading, and being a bit nervous about it.

"I want you to meet him."

Minako closed her eyes briefly. She wanted to squirm badly, but instead she bit her lip. She cursed in her head but immediately waved it off and rationalized that she was Rei's girlfriend, and this was one of things she was obligated to do.

"Mina?" Rei enquired on Minako's unnerving silence.

She turned a bright smile on and hugged Rei's arm. "I'd love to meet him. I'm sure he'll be… nice."

Rei chuckled. "He is nice. Sometimes."

Minako smoothed her dress out one more time and shook her hands spastically as she tried to get the jitters out of her system. Her palms were clammy and cold and they trembled slightly.

"Okay Minako, deep breaths." She followed her own order and inhaled deeply and exhaled extensively. "You can do this. Just smile and be polite, it'll be okay. It's just for an hour or two, and then it'll be all over. You got this."

She jumped as the doorbell rang and checked her watch. 7:14, Rei really wanted to make sure she was on time and she was, to Minako's own amazement.

"Wow. I must really be nervous."

"Don't be Mina; you'll be great, if you just behave yourself."

Minako glared at her white furred cat, who sat on her bed and cleaned himself. "What do you think Artemis, I'm going to start a food fight with the guy? Never mind being Rei's father, this… phantom of a man, he's a senator too!"

"That is quite a lot of pressure."

"Thanks, I just realized that." She said with biting sarcasm.

Artemis rolled his eyes. "Don't bite my head off. Rei's the one that you're doing this for."

Minako sighed. "I know." She twirled one last time in the mirror and grabbed her purse and jacket, heading for the door. "And If I get one thing out of this night I hope she's happy."

"Hurry up the cab is waiting." Was Rei's greeting to her.

"I'm coming, I'm coming…"

"We're meeting Dad at the restaurant." Rei told her once they were off in side the cab. "You're nervous aren't you?"

"Not really." Minako lied.

"Then stop tapping your foot like that."

Minako frowned at Rei's teasing laughter. "Shut up Rei. Can you blame me?"

Rei continued smiling and put a hand on her leg. "No, not at all. You look really, really, really, good by the way."

The tightness in Minako's stomach subsided momentarily as the cab pulled up in front of the restaurant. She followed Rei nervously to the table where the Senator was seated.

"Rei-ko, sweetheart, look at you!" In his suit and tie with dignified touches of gray hair at the temples, the Senator hugged his daughter, who did her best to give him a one that he wouldn't pull away from. "You look more like your mother, every time I see you."

Rei tried not to roll her eyes. "I'm glad to see you Dad. I've brought someone that I'd like you to meet."

Minako emerged from behind Rei and smiled timidly.

"Oh! You didn't tell me you were bringing a friend, Rei-ko." The Senator shook Minako's hand with a courteous smile. "How are you, sweetheart? Have a seat."

They all sat, but not before Minako shot Rei a dismayed look. "You didn't tell him I was coming?" She whispered through clenched teeth from behind a menu.

"I didn't have a chance." Rei whispered back.

"So what's been going on with you Rei-ko? You've stopped calling me."

"Only because you stopped calling me." The Senator pulled at his collar and Rei ignored his pained expression. "Well, Dad, some important things happened recently."

"Oh?"

"Yep," Rei looked at Minako. "I'm, uh, kind of… well no, I _am_ seeing someone."

Minako choked on her water.

"Oh dear, are you alright?" The Senator asked worriedly.

Minako looked at Rei and her eyes conveyed the message of confusion, shock and distress. "Rei?"

The Senator's eyebrow rose at the level of familiarity between his daughter and her friend. "Okay… It seems like both of us would like to know what you mean, Rei-ko."

Rei sighed. She decided she'd jump in with both feet before she changed her mind. And the way Minako was looking at her wasn't helping.

"Well, Dad… Minako is my—"

Senator Hino's eyes went to Minako's hand scraping the edge of the table. His eyebrow rose further.

"She's my girlfriend."

The momentary silence between the three of them was palpable. Rei briefly wondered if she had done the right thing or made a huge blunder. Minako's heart went from beating sporadically to just stopping altogether.

The Senator rubbed his chin thoughtfully. He spoke first. "Your girlfriend… As in you are a-- Taking part in a different kind of-- She and you—"

"Yes." Rei nodded solemnly, just imagining what could be going on in his head at the moment.

"This is true?" He addressed Minako.

She tried a few times to find her voice, but failing to, just nodded. The poor girl looked like a deer in headlights.

"I see."

"Good evening, tonight our specials are fillet mignon, chicken cordon bleu, and the house soup is French onion. Are you ready to order or do you need more time?"

Rei glared at the waiter. "We need more time, thank you." She told him acidly. She put a hand on Minako's, who seemed to have come back from a trance at Rei's touch. "Well? What do you think?" She retracted her hand as she realized the Senator was looking at them peculiarly.

"I'm not sure. How did this happen?"

Rei nodded to Minako. "Why don't you tell him?"

Minako wanted to yell "No, you're the one that got us into this!" but instead faced the Senator and explained, "It just happened. Your daughter and I like each other very much. It may not be your traditional love story, but we are together." She frowned at the blank expression on his face.

"Are you telling me that you two are in love?"

Rei nodded. "Yes, we are."

The Senator rubbed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. He turned to the nearest waiter. "I need a whiskey sour as fast as possible." He faced the girls again and leaned back in his chair. "I very much doubt that two seventeen year old girls know much about love. I'll allow you to continue this… friendship for now, but I expect you to grow out of it. Your friend can pursue any path that she wishes, but as for you Rei-ko, you're my daughter. You're not fit for such things."

"Have you decided yet?" The waiter returned.

"I'll have the fillet mignon. Well done, please," The Senator ordered as if what just happened was a customary occurrence, and that his daughter and Minako weren't sitting across from him broken-hearted and bewildered. "Girls, what'll you have?"

Minako gave the good public servant a dirty look and rose from the table. "I'm sorry, I suddenly feel sick. It was… 'Nice' meeting you, Senator Hino."

"Where are you going, Mina?" Rei took her hand, aware of her father's eyes on them, which is partly why she did it.

"Home, I can't stay."

"I'm going with you."

"No." Minako squeezed Rei's hand. "You stay. Try to have a good time with your father. I don't think I would."

"Bye. Feel better." Senator Hino said to Minako's back as Rei sank down into her seat. "You should try the lobster here, it's excellent."

"And then he was like 'You're not fit for such things'! I wanted to say something, but Rei didn't even say anything, so what could I do?" Minako explained the previous night to Makoto and Ami as they sat at the counter in the Crown. "So I just left and made Rei stay. I haven't talked to her yet."

Makoto shook her head sympathetically. "That really bites, Mina-chan. But look on the bright-side, at least he didn't get into a rage and forbid you two to see each other. If you think about it, it could've been a lot worse."

"I guess you're right Mako-chan. But I don't understand why Rei didn't tell me she was gonna pull a stunt like that in the first place. She didn't even tell her father that I was going!"

"Maybe she felt like it was something she needed to do." Ami offered.

Minako scoffed at the idea. "Well, I know that telling my parents about us is something that I _do not_ need to do."

Makoto chuckled quietly. "I guess I'm lucky I don't have to worry about stuff like that." Both Minako and Ami felt bad and put a hand on Makoto's shoulder. Then Minako remembered something and grinned mischievously at her friend.

"You still didn't tell me what happened with you and your ex-boyfriend."

Makoto just smiled shyly and stared at her lap. "He's not really an ex anymore."

Minako gasped and Ami's eyes widened.

"You got back together?" Minako's voice was high with excitement. "I'm so happy for you!"

"Thanks Mina-chan."

They both turned to Ami for a reaction. The blue-haired girl smiled quietly and her hand patted Makoto's back. "Good for you, Mako-chan."

Minako smiled to herself, as the self-proclaimed Goddess of Love, she was always glad when other people found someone. As she pondered the possibility of a double date, her thoughts were interrupted by a daisy suddenly thrust in front of her face.

She turned around to find Rei smiling affectionately at her. Minako immediately put her arms around her and squeezed.

"I'm sorry you had to go through with that." Rei whispered in her ear.

Minako stroked her thick black hair that cascaded down her back. "Its okay, it's okay," she whispered back. "I'd do it again, if you wanted me to."

Rei buried her face into her girlfriend's neck. "I love you so much, you have no idea."

"I love you too."

Makoto and Ami sat there and couldn't help smiling as the warm and fuzzy feeling came over them.

"So damn cute." Makoto remarked to Ami who simply sighed and turned her eyes elsewhere. Makoto chuckled quietly to herself, guessing why Ami chose to be silent. "Well guys, I'd love to stay for this heart-warming scene, but I have to go."

"Where are you going?" Rei asked, finally pulling away from Minako.

"Somewhere." Makoto was being unusually private.

Ami looked from Makoto to Rei and Minako and back to Makoto. She looked as if she wanted to grab hold of Makoto's leg and make her stay. "Don't go." Under scrutinizing looks, she added, "It's still early. Stay a little more. Please." There was an inch of desperation in her voice that no one caught.

"Sorry, Ami-chan, can't. I have things to do." the brown-haired girl replied cryptically with a secretive smile.

Minako threw her head back and laughed. "You mean you have _someone_ to do!"

Makoto rolled her eyes at her mischievous friend. "You're real low key Mina-chan. Anyway, I'll see you guys later, bye."

Ami waved weakly to Makoto's retreating form. She sat dejectedly in her seat and cautiously looked over at Rei and Minako. Minako was feeding Rei ice cream and the miko tried to take it as provocatively as possible. Ami caught herself before she made a face. They were her friends, and of course she was happy for them. They had everything they wanted in the other person, they were in love, they just happened to make it work, somehow. She was definitely happy for them. So why did she get this strange feeling every time she was around them? Or at least every time they acted like _that_.

'Oh God,' Ami put her hand over her eyes as she had an epiphany. 'I can't believe I'm jealous of them.'

Usagi's raucous laughter approached them and Ami looked up, grateful that she wouldn't be alone. Upon seeing Usagi leading Mamoru by the hand to the counter she immediately decided that this situation would be too much. She thought it over briefly, wondering why she never had that feeling around Usagi and Mamoru, now only with Minako and Rei. Maybe it was because they were bonded by destiny. Maybe because they weren't as exciting. She shook her head. She knew why. And she'd just have to forget about it.

"Hi Ami-chan!" Usagi greeted, extra-bubbly and energetic today.

"Hello Usagi-chan, Mamoru-kun. I'm sorry, I was just leaving."

"Already Ami-chan?" Minako asked as Rei fed her a cherry.

"Yes…" She gave them a peculiar look as Minako rolled the cherry around in her mouth. "I just remembered I have cram school today. So I have to go prepare my books."

That was enough to let her off the hook, so she zipped off barely hearing their goodbyes as she was out the door.

Rei and Minako giggled like naughty schoolchildren as they ran up the stairs of the shrine hand in hand. Rei stopped short in their sprint to the bedroom and put a finger to her lips before Minako could ask what was wrong. She listened carefully.

"Damn it," she swore, "Grandpa's home. He said he was visiting another shrine and wouldn't be back until late."

Minako couldn't hide her disappointment. "Well, it's okay. We can go to my house and put Artemis outside and turn the volume of the stereo up really loud."

Rei grinned at her girlfriend's cheekiness. "I like that idea. Okay, we have to make sure he doesn't hear us—"

"Rei, my child, are you home?"

"Leave," Rei finished, cringing. She cursed again under her breath. "Yes, Grandpa, I'm home."

"Then come here, there is someone I'd like you to meet." The old man called from the living room.

Rei made a face and Minako laughed at her. She kissed her girlfriend lightly and started towards the door. Rei grabbed her wrist.

"Oh no you're not."

"Rei! He wants you to meet them, not me! Let go."

"Uh uh. There's still a chance I can get out of this."

She practically drug Minako behind her into the living room. Her grandfather, Yuuichiro, and a girl that she didn't know were there, sitting and watching her. She bowed to them.

Yuuichiro got up energetically at the sight of Rei and upon seeing Minako standing behind her restrained himself and weakly waved to her. Minako impatiently waved back, peeved that Rei was holding her hostage.

"Ah, I see you've brought Minako-san." Her grandfather observed.

"Yes, Grandpa, we were just on our way to Minako's house."

"Oh, for what?"

Minako put a hand over her mouth and quietly giggled as she wondered what would happen if they told the old man the truth. Rei jabbed her gently with her elbow, to which she giggled harder. "Oh nothing really, Grandpa."

"Well good, I need you here anyhow." He finally turned to the girl; who was sitting there the whole time quietly, her brown eyes on Rei and Minako, and a peculiarly amused smile on her fine face. "This is Tora Akako. She's from a shrine in a Yokohama, the granddaughter of the shrine master over there."

Rei inclined her head slightly, as did the girl. "Nice to meet you, Tora-san."

"Please, call me Akako." The girl insisted.

"Yes you'd better." The old man interjected. "Akako-san will be staying for a good amount of time. Her grandfather thinks it a rich experience for her to learn from someone like you."

"Like me?" Rei repeated incredulously. Minako also looked on in surprise.

"Don't underrate yourself, Rei," Yuuichiro piped in, quite unexpectedly. He blushed as he realized everyone was looking at him. "I mean your relationship with the sacred fire. It would be useful for Akako-san to learn something like that from you."

Rei was still astonished. She smiled complacently, it was all very flattering. "I guess so. Then, welcome, Akako-san. I hope this will be an enlightening experience."

"I have no doubts" The black-haired Akako replied with a pleased smile.

Minako raised an eyebrow at the occurrences of the past ten minutes, and wondered why she was even there. And she also wondered why Rei was still smiling.

"What an ego," She whispered teasingly to Rei who pretended to glare at her.

"Freddy, honey, what are you doing?" Makoto asked through clenched teeth, trying to keep a smile on her face.

Freddy continued to smother his lips against Makoto's neck and let his hands reacquaint themselves, as she tried to open the door to her apartment. "I just wanna pick up where we left off, baby."

"I don't think that's where we left off." She told him as politely as possible. She turned to face him so she could control his hands.

"What? I thought you missed me. You said you missed me. That's what you said. You missed me right?"

Makoto smiled and tried to reassure him. She remembered him being a little less insecure. "Of course I did, but, I think we should talk first."

"Talk? About what?" His face clearly showed how he felt about that idea.

Makoto was finally able to get her door open, so led him inside as she answered him, "Well, I haven't seen you in a long time. Long time." She felt the need to overstress that part. "And we didn't exactly part on the best of terms."

Freddy chuckled as he remembered. "Yeah. You almost hit me."

Makoto tapped her finger to her lips as she dug the scene out of her memory. "No, I think I did hit you."

"No you didn't. If you did, it didn't hurt."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. I would've remembered if a girl hit me and it hurt."

Makoto just smiled and Freddy smiled back at her. Her blow to his shoulder may have caught him by surprise, but made him stumble back and yelp in pain all the same.

"Oh I'm sorry honey! I didn't mean to do it that hard!" She guided him to the sofa and sat him down, a hint of sadistic delight in her voice.

"Okay, I get it Makoto. You hit me, we'll talk."

"Alright, let's talk." She took a seat on the sofa next to him, not to close, but not very far away. Neither of them enjoyed the ensuing silence too much. "Y'know for a conversation to happen, someone has to say something." She prodded. Taking in his shrug and bored expression, she sighed. "I guess it'll be me."

She thought back to the day they broke up, now a cloudy memory, but with some very vivid details, the gazebo, the rain, the tears.. So long ago, and now she could finally ask him what she's been burning to know ever since.

"Why?"

Freddy looked at her strangely. "Why what?"

She shook her head at him. "Don't be stupid. Tell me. Why?"

He exhaled heavily and fidgeted with the zipper on his jacket. He knew this was coming and kicked himself mentally for not preparing for it. Now he'd have to tell the closest thing to the truth.

"I don't know why Makoto." His eyes met hers, and as honest as he sounded she didn't look like she was buying it. "She was just, there. I knew I had you but… It was a dumb mistake. I was a stupid kid."

Makoto gave him a dubious look. "So what are you now?"

He shrugged. "Not a stupid kid? Look, it doesn't matter—"

"It does matter, Freddy. You have no idea what I felt like when we broke up. You have no idea what happened to me afterwards. I thought we were in love." She laughed sardonically at herself. "I was insane. Every other half-decent guy reminded me of you."

He smiled at this and put a hand on her knee. Makoto was surprised at how good and secure that simple gesture made her feel. She missed that feeling.

"If it's worth anything now," He began in a half-whisper close to her ear, "I'm sorry. All I want to do is start over with you."

She took his hand, trying to hold back the emotions stirring her insides. She let him guide her chin so she faced him and took her lips in a gentle kiss.

Makoto sighed, remembering how amazing he could be.

>_Eternally grateful for the reviews. Seriously. Stay with me on this one.  
Daughter - Pearl Jam_


	3. Three

_>Way up in my tree I'm sitting by my fire  
Wond'rin' where in this world might you be  
And knowin' all the time you're still roamin' in the country side  
Do you still think about me?  
Well I realize that I've been hypnotized,  
I love your gypsy eyes  
I love your gypsy eyes_

The Sailor V video game theme song rang out loud and clear through the soundless classroom.

Minako swallowed hard as the white-haired algebra teacher turned a stern look on her, as well as the entire class whose attention was drawn to Minako's vibrating schoolbag.

"Aino, that'd better not be a cellular device I hear. You know very well that they are not allowed in school."

Minako looked around, thinking fast, she didn't want the old bag to confiscate her cell phone, especially since she just downloaded that Sailor V ring tone.

"No, no, Sensei, you've got it all wrong. That's my calculator you hear. It's a brand new model, with the latest high-tech audio thingies. I just got a problem correct, and the calculator congratulated me. That's merely the sound of success."

The teacher's drooping moustache twitched as he was about to reply, but to Minako's great relief the bell rang. He only set his stony eyes on Minako and narrowed his them. "Class is dismissed. Aino if your 'calculator' ever goes off again, it _will_ end up out the window."

"I gotchya." The blonde sped out of the classroom as fast as possible with Ami and Usagi right behind her.

"Mina-chan, you certainly aren't getting on Amagasaki-sensei's good side." Ami commented, trying to hide her amusement.

Usagi however openly rolled with laughter at Minako's misfortune. "You said it, Ami-chan."

"Ha ha, go ahead and laugh. I'm sure he loves you, Usagi, after your last test grade."

"Hey, that's uncalled for!"

Minako shrugged as she fished her phone out of her school bag. "Rei knows better than to call me during school, she wouldn't have time anyway. I hope there's not an emergency..." She froze as she saw the number and corresponding name flashing across the screen of her phone.

Usagi and Ami stopped as she did. "Mina-chan, what's wrong? Is there an emergency?" Ami asked, worried.

Minako's hands were trembling slightly and her face was expression-less. Slowly her eyebrows knitted together and she bit her lip. "There might be." Breathing in strongly, she showed her friends the name that had called her.

Usagi took the phone from her, wondering why this was affecting Mina so much. "Alan?"

Rei's twinkling laughter echoed against the walls of the sacred-fire room. The fire blazed, ebbing and flowing, seemingly to the synch of the miko's moods. Rei and Akako sat in front of it, enjoying it's warmth as well as soaking up its energy.

"You're funny, Akako-san. It's such a relief."

Akako turned her chocolate brown eyes on Rei and swept some of her long, shadowy black hair back. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Don't get me wrong, but I thought it was going to be a pain to have to teach you." Rei chuckled at the look she received from her fellow miko. "Don't give me that look. You're far from a pain, actually. I like you."

Akako looked back at the fire. "You like me, huh?"

Rei raised an eyebrow at this nonchalant sort of question. "Yeah." She too looked at the fire. "But don't get your hopes up. I'm taken."

Akako's burst of laughter surprised Rei. "Rei-san you are quite arrogant. But it's okay." She grinned. "Your girlfriend's pretty hot."

Rei's eyes bugged out. She put a hand down and got into Akako's face, who was mildly surprised by the other miko's sudden irritation. "I know. That's why she's _my_ girlfriend. Mine." Rei's threatening stance weakened, as she realized Akako was still grinning.

The calmer miko put a hand on her shoulder and gently pushed her into her former position. "Relax. I'm not here to sweep your woman off her feet and right from under your nose. Well, at least now that I see you're slightly psychotic."

Rei continued to glare at her. "I sure am, pal." She turned her gaze back to the sacred fire and immediately her anger melted away. She chuckled. "You're pretty arrogant yourself, Tora-san."

"Am I?"

"Sure. What makes you think Minako would fall for you, over some good lovin' like me?"

Akako had to laugh at Rei's sudden sexually confident attitude. "So much egotism between two people can't be good." She commented before turning to Rei. "You know how I know? Because I could probably have you too."

It was Rei's turn to laugh, and she did so loud and haughtily. "You're full of it—"

She was cut short as she was suddenly pressed to the floor, her arms pinned, and Akako's weight hovering above her. She gasped shakily, the innocent-looking brown-eyed girl's lips swiftly, dangerously close to hers.

Akako grinned, looking down at Rei, chest heaving and her cheeks pink. "Open your eyes."

Rei hadn't realized that they were closed. Akako abruptly got to her feet and extended a hand to Rei, who knocked it away after taking a few minutes to let her brain catch up.

Akako shrugged. "Don't be mad. I just wanted to prove you wrong; it's something we arrogant people like to do."

Rei hated the smug smile she wore as she left the room.

Makoto jumped back and assumed a defensive stance. "Come out and I won't hurt you. That much." She warned the intruder she caught scurrying around in her apartment upon entering.

"Take it easy, baby." Freddy emerged from the bedroom with his hands above his head. "Actually, I like playing good cop, bad cop." He snickered.

Makoto relaxed, but put her head in her hands. "_What_ are you doing here? Were you here all day?"

"Not all day. I went out to buy some stuff."

Makoto dropped her school bag to the floor and walked past him to her bedroom. He followed her but the door was shut in his face.

"Are you at me or something? You said I could stay as long as I wanted to."

Makoto did remember saying that, but she didn't think he'd actually follow up on it. A person couldn't be held responsible for what they say after reaching the heights of sexual pleasure for the first time in months. She opened the door, having changed out of her school uniform.

"I didn't think you'd stay the entire day. Didn't you go to class? You should have least went home to change."

Freddy looked down at the outfit he had been wearing for the past two days. He struggled to find an explanation. "I only had two classes today; I wouldn't have learned anything anyway." Makoto's disappointed look wounded him. "If I leave... Where would I go?"

"What do you mean?"

"My parents don't live around here and my roommate is basically kicking me out. I only have you."

Makoto's head suddenly began to throb. She had to sit down. "What are you saying? You have no where else to go? You want to stay here. With me?"

Freddy dumped himself next to her on the couch and put his head on her shoulder. "Yeah, with you." He slid down and ended up on his knees, holding her hands in his. "Makoto, this is gonna sound… weird. But it's the truth." He kissed her unexpectedly. "I love you."

Years ago Makoto's answer would have been automatic. But years ago she was a different person. She sighed and brushed his unruly black hair away from his eyes.

"You'll have to help pay the rent."

Minako didn't even know why she was there. Since that call she felt like she didn't know anything anymore. She breathed deeply trying to keep her mind at ease. She was only there at Crown so she could see Alan, as a long-time friend, to catch up, and ask about Katarina. All that nonsense she felt a long time ago, didn't matter now. She was grown up now. She had Rei now.

She caught sight of him as he entered, looking much the same as she remembered him. He was the classic definition of tall, dark, and handsome.

Minako felt like dying. Her palms were cold and sweaty, and for the life of her she couldn't get her heart to slow down. "Come on, Aino get a hold of yourself."

"Minako, you'll never get over the habit of talking to yourself. Or do you still talk to that cat?"

Minako jumped, realizing his presence standing there in front of her. She laughed nervously; she had already made a fool of herself. She looked up from her feet and raised her eyes all the way to his, a good six inches above her. He smiled.

"Alan." She whispered.

"It's good to see you old chum."

She nodded, not finding words. His eyes still had that childlike sparkle, although he did seem to have aged. "How have you been keeping?"

She had to look away so she could answer him. "I've been great. Life is wonderful, I can't complain."

"Oh, I see," He laughed, "You've found a good man, haven't you?"

Minako laughed along with him. She put her hands in her pockets to keep them from trembling. "You could say that. And you? How is Katarina?"

She was surprised to see his smile fade. "Well, that's part of the reason I left London…" Minako's eyes searched for more explanation. "Katarina and I… It didn't work out. We recently… Well, you don't mind if we just avoid this subject, do you old chum?"

"Um, oh no, its fine with me, I completely understand… I'm sorry."

"Me too."

The silence seemed to be one of mourning and Minako shifted uncomfortably. Her heart rate had resumed its normal beat and she was able to look at Alan now without it thumping out of control.

"So," He finally said something, "Tell me about your little affair."

Minako smiled and looked at the floor. She felt secure again as she thought of Rei. "What can I say? I'm in love. It's magnificent."

"You, Minako? In love? You must tell me about this lucky bloke."

"Kind of like you Alan." His surprised look amused Minako and she laughed musically. "Tall, dark, 'handsome'. Beautiful, deep eyes. They can see right to the bottom of your soul. Burning and full of passion. And when those eyes set their gaze on you… It's like you can't escape. But you don't want to either."

Alan tried to look at what Minako's eyes were fixed on, but she was not there with him, she was far off, somewhere else.

"So you've become a romantic, have you?"

She smiled, and shook her head. "No. I'm just less cynical. It was hard to be romantic in England, doing what I had to do. Seeing what I had to see."

"Y'know Katarina once had this crazy notion that you were in love with me."

She looked into those dark blue eyes. They didn't go deep enough for her.

"It was nice to see you again Alan."

Alan looked on, speechless, as Minako got up and left without another word.

"Mina, what are you doing here? I didn't know you were coming."

Minako put her arms around Rei's waist and rested her head on her shoulder. "I needed to be with you."

Rei just kissed the girls forehead and enjoyed her warmth.

"I have to admit, I was really surprised when you called me. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad you called, I just wasn't expecting it. Because we haven't really hung out in a long time, but I do love hanging out with you."

Ami barely heard a word he said. "Well thanks for coming Ryu-kun." She sipped her soda and hoped she didn't look as bored as she was.

"So where are all your friends? You're usually with them."

"They're busy. Besides I felt like spending time with you today." Ami gulped, not even believing what she was about to say. "Alone. Just you and me."

Urawa Ryu couldn't contain the joy spilling forth from him. "I-I've been thinking about you lately. Not really predictions… But I'm hoping whatever I'm thinking can come true." He grinned and inched closer to Ami.

She timidly smiled back at him. Instead of moving back to recover that comfortable space she had lost, she resolved to stay put. "Oh? Well, okay…"

'Goodness, I wish a youma would show up.' The blue-haired girl thought disdainfully, as she listened to Urawa's inane chattering.

"…But seriously Ami-chan, you're one of the most beautiful girls I know. Not to mention the fact that you're brilliant."

Ami's ears caught this bit. She turned surprised eyes on him. "Do you really think so Ryu-kun?"

"I swear it Ami-chan."

She smiled feeling much better about having him around. Their conversation suddenly became more interesting and to Ami's delight Urawa seemed to have developed a slight charm. She found herself laughing at one of his jokes.

"And the biologist says to his assistant, that's not an effluvium patient, that's my wife!" Urawa grinned, he had Ami laughing. She hit him playfully.

"Oh, Ryu-kun, you're too much."

"You must have the prettiest laugh I've ever heard."

The non-sequitor threw Ami, making her look away coyly, and turning her complexion pink. She noticed Urawa moving closer.

'He's not going to… is he? Oh he is. Kami…' Ami was frozen and her treasured mental processing rate seemed to be broken. Her eyes drifted slowly closed and her lips puckered slightly. It was finally happening. It was happening with Urawa, but still, it was happening.

"Ami-chan?"

Her senses snapped back to her when she heard the voice. Both she and Urawa jolted away from each other. Ami kicked herself mentally when she saw who it was.

"Hello Mako-chan, Freddy-san."

Makoto took a good look at Ami. Her cheeks were bright pink and she was breathing quite rapidly. "How ya doin', Ami-chan?" She elbowed Freddy in the ribs, who gave her a brief greeting.

"Just fine. You remember Urawa Ryu?"

"I sure do." Makoto grinned at the two of them. "Well it seems you two, are 'busy'," She teased them purposely. "We'll just be at the counter."

"No, no!" Ami regained her composure. "It's fine. Please, join us. You don't mind, do you Ryu-kun?"

Urawa really did mind, and mind much. But he could never go against Ami's wishes. "It's no problem."

The two "couples" sat across from each other and shared an uneasy silence. Freddy looked bored, only taking interest in his double-decker hamburger. Urawa was noticeably peeved at having his Ami-alone-time cut short. Makoto sat straight up and wore an amused smile. She'd throw Freddy a disgusted look once or twice, as he devoured his meal. And Ami sat there trying to figure out just what was happening.

At times like these it was best to think scientifically (at least for her). Urawa sat on her left, an old friend, potential dating prospect, his intentions were blatant. Freddy sat across from him, someone she hardly knew anything about except that for some reason he held Makoto's affection. Makoto was across from her, watching her make her observations. Their eyes met but Ami didn't waiver.

Makoto… A paradox. Unfathomable. Damn science, it was useless. She was unclassifiable. Her Mona-Lisa smile above all else, baffled Ami.

Freddy, fully satiated, put his arm around Makoto, who remained still.

Urawa narrowed his eyes at Freddy, who he thought was making a mockery of him. He yawned and stretched, putting the oldest trick in the book to work. Unfortunately, Ami rose from the table before his arm could land around her shoulders.

"I think I'll go get us some milkshakes."

Makoto followed her. "I'll help you carry them." They sat at the counter now, keeping a wary eye on the boys.

"So, Urawa's finally making a move on you, huh?" Makoto seemed to have found enjoyment in the whole thing.

"I wouldn't say that. I suppose it was all meant to happen. He _is_ the only male I'm very comfortable with, well besides Mamoru-kun, but he doesn't count."

"Ami-chan," Makoto was using an admonishing tone, "You're not telling me that you've just decided to settle for Urawa, are you?"

"That's a bit harsh. Not 'settling', no. I told you, it just seems like it should happen this way."

"What should happen?"

Ami tapped her fingers on the counter, flashing her eyes briefly over Makoto. "I'm glad for you and Freddy-san, you look very happy."

Makoto looked away, towards the table, where Freddy and Urawa were appearing to be in conversation with each other. "I am, I guess."

"You guess?"

"He's moving in with me."

Makoto expected the shock, but not the disappointed look from Ami. "Moving in? That's an enormous step Mako-chan. Are you sure you want to do this? Especially, only seeing him now after—"

Makoto put a hand up to silence her. "I know, I know Ami-chan. I'm not looking forward to that same reaction from the others, especially Luna. But what can I do? He has no place to go. And he…" Makoto looked away; she didn't want to tell Ami that bit for some reason.

"He what, Mako-chan?"

"He… Used the big L."

"What?"

"The L word. He told me… he loved me."

Ami nodded in understanding. "I see." She looked at her hands. "And you said the same to him?"

Makoto laughed cynically. "That's the horrible part. I completely ignored it. He keeps spouting it like, like… I dunno. But I can't bring myself to say it."

Ami exhaled slowly, she felt like a huge cloud of disappointment floating over her head had disappeared.

"Oh. Well. Whatever you feel is right, Mako-chan."

Makoto looked at Ami, and her eyebrows furrowed together. She frowned. "I don't know what's right."

_>It'll all make sense soon.  
Gypsy Eyes - Jimi Hendrix_


	4. Four

_>I've watched the stars fall silent from your eyes  
All the sights that I have seen  
I can't believe that I believed I wished  
That you could see  
There's a new planet in the solar system  
There is nothing up my sleeve_

As usual, for lack of anything better to do on a Saturday afternoon, the sailor senshi sat at their habitual table at the Crown. None of them seemed much interested in anything, the beautiful spring day, the junk food in front of them, the bored expressions of each other. The theme seemed to be distraction, as all of them sat looking out the window, or staring off into space.

Usagi stopped mushing her banana into her sundae suddenly and wondered why she wasn't devouring it. Remembering herself with a pleased grin she began to stuff it down again, taking a brief look around the table. The blank faces didn't please her.

Makoto was staring out the window thoughtfully, her eyebrows twitching now and then. Next to her, Minako took interest in her nails, chewing on her lip and briefly glancing at Rei as she pondered. Rei herself was hunched over the table with her hand supporting her head; she didn't look in the best of moods. And Ami, whom Usagi expected to always be in deep thought, was staring intently at her sandwich, her foot tapping rapidly on the floor. For once she looked like she wasn't at full mental organization, like she was trying _not_ to think about something.

Usagi had about enough. "Hey! Just what is going on here? Wake up, you guys! Am I supposed to talk to myself?"

They looked as if they barely heard her. Mulling around and straightening up, they mumbled apologies, but remained in their own realms of contemplation.

Usagi huffed. She'd have to be the catalyst here, if she was going to get anything done at all. She turned to Ami. "So Ami-chan, how're things with Urawa-kun?"

Ami looked up, barely catching Usagi's question. She noticed Usagi's inquisitive stare at her tapping foot and stopped, blushing. "Um, well... It's okay, I guess. I haven't called him back since last week. That isn't really bad, is it?"

Makoto chuckled. "Playing games, are you, Ami-chan?"

Ami's face turned crimson fast. "What do you mean?"

"Oh it isn't so bad, Ami-chan. Let him chase you. He'll crave you more." Minako offered. Rei looked at her.

"Is that so?"

Minako pinched Rei for her derisive smirk. "You tell me."

Usagi giggled, but then turned her attention to Makoto. "How's the moving-in going, Mako-chan?"

Makoto's sigh and look of disdain and fatigue told the whole story. Instead of answering verbally she just waved her hand, dismissing the topic.

"Okaaay…" Usagi thought to just resign and enjoy her junk food with silence, but jumped up suddenly, remembering something very important. "Mina-chan! You didn't tell me what happened with Alan!"'

Usagi knew she had said something wrong when Minako looked at her with utter pain. She slapped her forehead and shook her head at Usagi.

Not surprisingly, Rei's curiosity was peaked. "Who's Alan?"

Usagi gasped in horror, as she realized what she just did. Minako sarcastically mouthed the words "Thanks, a lot" to her.

"Mina?" Rei prodded for an answer.

Minako tried to act as if it was of least importance. "Oh y'know, Alan. My friend, Alan," she stressed this point, "From England, he came to visit. I ran into him last week." Rei's eyes flashed and it seemed like the heat had gone up a nuance. Minako swallowed.

"W-what? Wait, wait, wait, are you talking about English Alan? The Alan that was your boyfriend?" Her voice grew with every word.

Minako tried to be patient; she thought that perhaps she deserved some of it, but not all of Rei's fury. "Rei. He was never my boyfriend, you know that."

"You were in love with him!"

"That was a long time ago!"

Usagi sank down in her seat, and Ami and Makoto shifted around uncomfortably, all suddenly very interested in the ceiling.

Rei tried mightily to keep her voice down and her temper in check. "I can't believe you didn't even tell me."

"You're overreacting. He was just a friend. I probably won't even see him again. It's not a big deal." Minako stated with strained patience.

"You're not getting it Mina. You went behind my back to see someone you were in love with. It's a big friggin' deal!" Rei exclaimed, her temper finally getting the better of her.

"Why are you being like this?"

"Like what?"

Minako shook her head, she just about had it. "Kami, you can be so—" She didn't bother finishing, just rising from the table and leaving the building.

"Mina! What—wait! Come back!" Rei followed her out, leaving the other three awkwardly scratching their heads, wondering if would be right to leave or not.

Usagi put a remorseful hand over her face. "That wasn't my fault was it?" Makoto and Ami reassure her it wasn't.

Minako stopped as Rei caught up with her, grabbing a hold of her wrist. She wriggled out of her grasp and turned a hurt gaze on Rei, whose own eyes didn't waiver. Minako couldn't stop, and didn't try to stop the tears rolling down her face.

Rei exasperatedly put her hands on top of her head and looked in the other direction; she couldn't take it when Minako cried. "Stop crying." She said in a low tone.

Minako put a hand over her mouth to try and control her sobs. "Kami, Rei… why do have to be so--"

"So what? What, Mina?" Rei sighed and paced back and forth as Mina stood with her arms crossed, her tears now under control. "All I want to know is why you had to do it behind my back. I mean you told Usagi for God's sake! What else does Usagi know that I don't?"

Mina threw her hands up in frustration. "See, that's it. That's exactly why I didn't tell you, because I knew you'd blow the whole thing out of proportion. You're so jealous."

"How is that a bad thing?"

Minako looked at her like she was crazy. "Because now you're standing here yelling at me, because I went to see an old friend. Jeese, Rei, imagine how you'd feel if I got mad every time you talked to Yuuichiro."

Rei's eyes flashed on her. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Are you blind? He's only obsessed with you."

Rei blew frustrated air through her lips. "Whatever. That has nothing to with anything right now."

"So what does Alan have to with anything?"

"A lot!"

"You're acting like I did stuff with him or something!"

"Did you?"

"NO!"

Both of them sighed and walked around a few steps to ward off their irritation. Minako pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head, not knowing how she would convince Rei that she had nothing to worry about.

"I don't know what to tell you Rei, if you don't trust me…"

Rei turned glum and upset eyes on her girlfriend. "I _do_ trust you." She replied softly.

"Then what are we fighting about?"

Rei shook her head. She didn't really know. She was tired and frustrated with everything, and a strange feeling was stirring inside her. "I… I don't know."

Mina looked at her feet, not knowing exactly where they stood right now. Despite the relative diffusing of the situation, she still had tears to hold back. She sighed and took a few unsteady steps toward Rei.

Rei cautiously slipped her hand into hers, relieved to have her squeeze back.

"I-I'm going. I have to get home." Minako told her quietly.

"Okay." Rei let her go, and they parted, for once without their customary good-bye kiss. She watched her long blonde hair sway back and forth as her perfect form disappeared down the street. With a shaky sigh she turned around and headed off in the opposite direction.

Makoto came home with a dire mood, hoping the comfort of her spick and span home, some good self-prepared food, and her loving boyfriend would cheer her up. But when she opened the door a sea of boxes, clothing, and random junk greeted her.

Her expression was of pure horror as she ran over to her ficus and removed a pair of men's underwear from the wide leaves. After blowing her plant a kiss to help it recover from the trauma, she straightened up and was determined to find her "loving" boyfriend.

"Freddy!"

Freddy stuck his head out of the bedroom door, he appeared to be shirtless. "Hey babe you're back! You can help me get the waterbed on the spring board." He opened the door revealing an entirely transformed bedroom, lava lamps, bear-skin rug, and black satin sheets waiting to grace the waterbed.

She entered the room cautiously, flipping the switch, just a little surprised when red light poured out of the light bulb.

"What the f—"

"It's a red bulb. Doesn't it make this place sexier?"

Makoto looked at him in disbelief. "My room looks likes a strip club!"

"Our own personal strip club." Freddy tried unsuccessfully to make the prospect sound better. "Just help me get this thing up, you'll love it." He motioned to the waterbed, which they lifted onto the spring board.

He jumped on it and patted the spot next to him. Makoto cautiously climbed on to it. She laughed as she was engulfed by the watery cushion, floating gently on it. "Hey, this isn't so bad."

"Wait 'til we get those sheets on." Freddy told her. "We should have like a house warming party."

"But I've been living here for years."

He propped himself up on a hand. "Yeah but I just moved in. Come on, it'll be fun."

"For you and you're stupid your friends." She said plainly.

"Hey, come on now, they're not that stupid. Invite your friends too. Maybe there'll be someone for the small one, what's her name?"

"You don't mean Ami?"

Freddy chuckled. "Why not? Maybe even the lesbians will be charmed by some of my buddies."

Makoto tried not to laugh at that, but couldn't help it. "I highly doubt that. And would it kill you so much to learn their names?"

Freddy let the waves of the bed roll his body on to hers. "I'd get to know them much better if we had a party. You know you want to, just say yes."

Makoto sighed, knowing she was being manipulated into it by his soft hands, and smooth voice. "Fine, but you are so cleaning up."

Freddy grinned as he stroked her midsection. "Awesome." He moved himself downward, planting kisses on her stomach. Makoto grinned too, as he showed her his appreciation.

Rei entered the shrine wordlessly, slamming the door behind her. She threw the door open to her room and slammed that door as well, throwing herself onto her bed. Akako shot up from her place on the floor next to the bed.

"What the—"

Rei reluctantly peered down on her. "Oh, I forgot about you. What are you doing?"

"Taking a nap." She patted her sleeping bag. "Nothing else to do, until you got back." She studied Rei's stressed face. "Hey, what's eating you? Get in a fight with your little hottie?"

Rei ignored Akako's purposeful provocation. "It's none of your business. Go back to sleep."

Akako lay back down on her sleeping bag, resting her head on her folded hands. "Well you sure are more of a jerk than usual; she must've really gotten to you."

"Didn't you hear me? It's none of your business!"

Akako sucked her teeth at Rei's unfriendly attitude. "Whatever. Y'know, you're gonna die early with that sort of disposition." She rose from the floor and stretched. Rei's eyes bugged out.

"I'm going to meditate—what are you staring at?"

Rei sat up and pointed, unable to form words.

Akako was stumped. "What?"

"Would you put some clothes on, for God's sake!" Rei practically screamed, her face red.

"What are you talking about? I have clothes on." Akako proudly displayed her sheer tank top and bikini underwear. "Of course I'm not going to meditate like this; Yuuichiro-kun would die of a nosebleed."

Rei didn't watch, only looked as she put her shrine robes on. Before she left Rei told her, "Akako-san, I have to tell you. My first impression of you was completely and utterly wrong."

The brown-eyed girl chuckled in amusement. "Most people's are."

Usagi, Ami, and Makoto entered the study meeting uneasily, not sure if Rei and Minako were in the same state they had least seen them in. Being put in the "in-between" position was not something they anticipated when they found out the two were together, and now they had no idea as to what to do when those types of situation came up. Luckily for them, Minako and Rei seemed to have worked everything out, and they didn't have to be the middlemen today.

"Hey guys, before I forget," Makoto started, "Freddy and I are having a party. To celebrate his 'moving-in'," She explained with sarcastic enthusiasm. "He's inviting his friends, so please, for my sanity, come."

Minako laughed, she loved Makoto's relative nonchalance when it came to her boyfriend. Sometimes she wished she could be that indifferent. "I'll go, Mako-chan. I haven't been to a party in ages. And you know what they say: All work and no parties, makes Jack a nerd."

The rest of the senshi had a hard time of picking themselves up off Rei's hardwood floor. "Eh, I'm pretty sure that one doesn't go like that." Rei told her girlfriend. "Hey a... You don't mind if Akako-san comes along do you Mako-chan?"

Makoto rubbed her chin. "I don't really know her, but I guess anyone on my side will help balance out the moron to intellectual ratio. So, everyone's coming?" She zeroed in on one of them in particular. "Ami-chan… You'd better not bail on me."

Ami's foot tapped the floor at a rapid pace; she wondered when exactly she had picked up this nervous habit. "I suppose I could go for an hour or two."

"Or three… or six." Makoto persisted. She flopped on the floor and stared dejectedly into the ceiling. "It won't be any fun with out you."

Ami's eyes shifted around, wondering who that last comment was directed to. She smiled discreetly to herself. 'I guess I'll have to be there a while.'

The study session went on, rather the same as it usually did, though a little quieter. Usagi dozed gently behind a history textbook; Ami leaned in next to Makoto, helping her overcome a particularly taxing physics problem; and Rei and Minako concentrated on their own studies, not playing footsie under the table, sneaking off to "make refreshments", or even looking at each other much.

Not much was made of the quiet; the hours seemed to pass fairly quickly.

Usagi's head finally drooped in to her text book enough for her to accidentally slam her nose in it. "OOOOOWWWWWW!"

"What did you do to yourself this time meatball-head?"

Usagi just blew an indignant raspberry at Rei as she rubbed her nose. She looked out the window, realizing how dark it already had become. "Oh! I forgot, I have to get home, Mom wants me to help cook tonight!"

The others looked at each other with amused smiles on their faces, wondering what Mrs. Tsukino was thinking.

As the others descended the shrine stairs, Rei stopped Minako from leaving. "Are you okay, Mina?" She asked, worried eyes searching the blonde's face.

"I'm fine. Why?"

Rei shrugged. "You just seemed… a little far off today."

Mina nodded, looking at her feet. "So did you, actually."

"Oh."

She suddenly looked at Rei with silent anxiety in her eyes and urgency in her voice. "Sometimes I feel like… Lately, I've been getting this feeling, y'know? I don't know what it is. It's like, emptiness."

Rei's head tilted and her intense gaze searched for more explanation. "Emptiness?"

Minako's suddenly trembling hands touched her forehead, trying to calm herself down. She felt like she was panicking, but she had no idea why. "I don't know what I'm talking about. I have to go home."

Rei took her quivering hands, kissing each of them. She tried to get Minako to look at her, but the blonde's eyes were glued to the floor. She was really shaken up by something. "Talk to me. Something's bothering you, and I know it's about me."

"No, it's nothing. Never mind, just forget it." She gave Rei a reassuring smile. Rei leaned in to kiss her, but before she got there the girl's head was turned and she was descending the many shrine steps.

Rei touched her puckered lips and straightened up, watching her go. She wearily went back inside and found herself wandering, dazed and confused, towards the sacred fire room. Akako sat meditating, the flames casting a huge shadow over the entire room.

Rei stood in the doorframe of the room, watching her; the flames licking occasionally at her, the wisps of jet black hair wafting gently around her fine face, her chest rising and falling steadily with each breath.

Her eyes opened suddenly. After a few seconds she turned her doe-brown eyes on Rei. "I knew it was you. I suppose that means I'm getting better, right?"

Rei was silent. Her forceful purple gaze burned into Akako as hot as the sacred fire itself. With slow but deliberate motions she moved from the door frame and slid the door shut behind her, her eyes never wavering.

Akako gasped lightly, as she was being shoved gently to the floor, her wrists pinned above her and Rei's body pressing into hers. She accepted the hungry kiss with gusto.

Rei stopped. She looked at Akako. Her mind was cloudy, nothing in her head was right. There was no one named Minako; no one named Rei for that matter. There was just, this.

Akako pulled her in, her touch was soft and sure. She rolled her on to her back and Rei let the girl do what she wished. Rei had no time to think, no desire to.

All she knew was that it felt good.

_>Ohhhhhhhh. Chapter Five soon.  
The Great Beyond -R.E.M._


	5. Five

>_I haven't felt the way I feel today  
In so long it's hard for me to specify  
I'm beginning to notice  
how much this feels like a waking limb  
pins and needles, nice to know you  
good-bye, nice to know you_

Rustling sheets, soft pants, and heavy breathing filled the room that was already being painted with morning sun. The two forms under the covers finally eased their activities into a murmur of slow kisses and mild touch. They lay there after they parted, soaking in each other's sensation, but with very different thoughts in their heads.

Rei closed her eyes and resolved to keep them shut. Maybe after the first time she supposed it was a mistake, chalking it up to tumultuous and unsure emotions. The second time, it was probably only pure lust. But this was the third time. So what was this?

She felt the bed shift in weight and opened her eyes to the girl rising from the bed, nude except for the sheet partially veiling her front. Rei was reminded of another such scene stored in her memory from countless times of repetition. On that note she closed her eyes again and asked herself the same question she's asked herself since that infernal night by the sacred fire.

'What the hell am I doing?'

A pair of lips came down on her forehead, she opened her eyes reluctantly. The shrine robes were now on and she looked as if she transformed. Rei blinked. Somehow she looked different in the morning light. She watched her leave the room, presumably to meditate or help prepare breakfast.

As soon as she left Rei rose from the bed and put fresh clothes on. She brushed her long, thick hair out, watching herself in the mirror, a thin line where something resembling a smile used to be. She turned the frame down on her dresser that housed a photo of a day at the beach, the two happy people clinging to each other in swim suits, grinning for the camera. She then turned to her bed and pictured in her mind what last night must've looked like.

Her eyes closed again, a lump began to form in her throat. She let out a shaky breath and sank to the floor. Pulling her knees to her chest, she rested her head on them and sobbed.

"Okay, it's like this," Makoto attempted to explain her "ankle-breaker, soul-shaker" basketball move to Ami. "Okay, defend. Oh come on you can do better than that Ami-chan." Makoto dropped the ball and went over to her. She took Ami by the waist and moved her, positioned her arms in the proper defensive arrangement, and finally took each leg and bent them individually. If not for the utterly mystified expression on her face, she would've looked like a pro.

"So… I stay like this?" She questioned apprehensively.

"Yeah, except you move in front of me when I try to drive to the hoop." Makoto laughed as she watched Ami. "Jeese, you look like Jordan himself."

"Don't make fun of me yet." She thought of a phrase she heard in a movie once. "Um… bring it on."

Makoto laughed outright. "All right little girl, let's hope your delicate little ankles hold up." She quickly head faked, trying to throw Ami off, but the smaller girl defended with surprising ferocity. "Take it easy, Ami-chan, you're fouling me!"

Ami smirked. "Tough. Come on Mako-chan, 'shake my soul'." She taunted, putting her hand on the taller girl's hip and taking a swipe at the ball.

Makoto grinned, loving this competitive, physical Ami. "Brace yourself, little girl." The way she said it made Ami's spine tingle, just before she got dropped on her butt. Makoto crossed-over, spun, and laid the ball neatly in the basket, while Ami was still lying on the gym floor.

With a big self-satisfied smile, she leaned over Ami and pulled her up with one hand. Slightly dazed, Makoto was grinning at her, a peculiar glint in her eyes. Ami's ankles may have been intact but her soul was definitely shaken.

On the other side of the gym Minako was similarly helping Usagi get off her butt. "I told you Usagi-chan, you can't just receive one of my spikes. The best teams in Tokyo can't even dig my spikes."

"Dig your what? I just wanted to learn how to play." Usagi whined, rubbing her nose, where Minako's power kill had landed in her face.

"Well, sorry, I'm not the best person to learn from. I put a little extra on that one… I do that sometimes, relieves stress."

"Stress? What do you mean?"

Usagi followed Minako to a bleacher where the blonde slumped down lethargically. She sat down next to her, sensing that something was not right. "Is something bothering you Mina-chan?"

Minako tossed the volleyball she was holding up and down. She shook her head. "No." Usagi gave her an unconvinced look. She sighed. "Maybe. Just some stuff that's been on my mind lately."

"Like what?" Usagi prompted, although she had a pretty good idea.

"Rei." She said it simply, pushing her bangs back and staring in to space.

Usagi watched her tune out, only guessing what she was thinking about. She put a hand on her friend's shoulder. "I'm not gonna try to get you to tell me whatever it is you're thinking right now." She paused, waiting for a response, only receiving a blank stare. "I'd sure like to know, though."

Minako looked at her suddenly, desperate for some clarity for her cluttered mind. "You know when you're in love with someone?"

Usagi sighed, and attained a far off look. "Oh, yes."

"You know how it feels to be with them? To be touching them, talking to them, even just looking at them… You get a nice feeling, right?"

Usagi nodded vigorously. "It's like… being warm. Safe."

"Safe." Minako repeated. She dropped the ball she had been tossing and let it roll to Makoto and Ami's feet, who were approaching them.

Usagi waited for her to say something else, but realized she wasn't going to. She squeezed her shoulder, understanding what might be going on inside her friend's head. "It'll be okay." She whispered encouragingly.

Minako smiled at her, getting up suddenly. She stretched her arms over her head and sighed. "I'm think too much sometimes. You're right Usagi-chan. It will."

"What will?" Makoto asked, handing the volleyball back to Minako.

"Nothing. Hey, we should get going. You can't be late for your own party Mako-chan."

Makoto groaned as she remembered. "Don't remind me. How did I let Freddy talk me into this?"

"Oh I can think of one way," Minako wise-cracked. Makoto herself chuckled, as Ami attained a pensive look and turned pink. The blue-haired girl smiled to herself, earning strange looks from the other three.

"What?" She realized herself finally, "I was just thinking about... Sternberg's triarchic theory of intelligence and its relative applicability to a contextual setting."

Their totally puzzled expressions satisfied her enough.

Minako's doorbell rang and she scrambled to put her clothes on faster. "Damn it, that's probably Rei, and I'm not even dressed yet. Artemis, can you get it?"

Artemis sometimes wished he could throw something at her. Instead he sighed and said, "Minako, do you really think that I'll be able to stand on my hind legs and turn the knob with my paws?"

Minako laughed at herself, as she hurriedly fixed her bow, "Sorry, I forget that it's only talking you can do, I figured you'd be able to pull off some of the other stuff too." She turned her attention to her bedroom door which was opening. She smiled.

"Hey." Rei greeted her, a sweet smile on her face. Minako practically melted at the sight of her, she looked extraordinary. "You can close you mouth now."

Minako laughed. "Kami, you look—"

"Not nearly as good as you."

An engaging silence ensued as their eyes took each other in, smiling lecherously at each other, the sound to break it being Artemis' derisive snorts.

Rei chuckled and went over to the blonde, putting her arms around her waist. Minako nuzzled her neck, enjoying having her so close. "Why does it feel like I haven't seen you in forever?"

"I love you."

"What?" Minako was thrown by the sudden statement.

Rei held her tighter; she was starting to breathe heavier. "I love you. A lot. You mean everything to me. You know that right?"

Minako blinked at her. "Are you okay? Is something wrong?"

"Everything's fine. Can't I just tell you how I feel?"

"Yeah, of course. I love you too Rei." She held Rei closer to her and wondered where all that had come from. She took Rei's face in her hands and looked at her. "Rei— are you crying?"

"No." The miko turned away from her girlfriend and discreetly wiped her eyes.

Minako was a little more than confused. "Are you sure?"

"Yes! Ahem, sorry. I'm fine." She let go of Minako when she realized the girl was looking at her strangely. "It's just stuff… with my father." She ran a hand through her hair, realizing she was lying and that it was only a small one compared to the enormous one that she was living. "Well, you should hurry up so we can get to the party on time; Akako-san is meeting us there. Can't have her there by herself." Before she left the room she kissed Minako deeply and thoroughly. "I _love_ you."

"I love you too," Minako said to her retreating form. She turned to Artemis and laughed admonishingly at herself. "What was I worrying about?"

Makoto closed her eyes so she wouldn't see the dirty boots of someone she didn't know, and didn't want to know, on her newly polished coffee table. She turned the other way only to catch a grubby-looking kid about to pluck a leaf from her baby Australian ficus. "Hey, get away from that!"

"Sorry, but you ran out of toilet paper."

She just gave him a disgusted look and picked up her plant and headed to the bedroom, throwing him another disgusted look on the way. She opened the door to find two total strangers getting familiar with each other on her bed.

"Get out!"

"Hey man, this is Freddy's party—"

"And this is my apartment; now get out of my bedroom!"

Sighing as they left she put her plant down safely in a corner and collapsed on her bed. Freddy stuck his head through the door, a can in hand. "Hey babe, what are you doing in here? The party's out here."

"I'm taking a break." She sat up and saw him standing unsteadily in the doorway. "What are you— Freddy, are you drinking?"

"No. Maybe. Yes." He laughed sheepishly. "Everyone else is, so why not? You should too, it'll loosen you up."

Makoto was infuriated. "I'll loosen you up, you—"

The sound of the doorbell got him off the hook for now. Makoto just scoffed and pushed past him.

She threw open the door to find the rest of the senshi plus Mamoru and one other. She sighed, an immense amount of relief overcoming her. "Thank God. I was about to go crazy."

They cautiously entered the apartment they were used to seeing spotless and organized, now filled with a mass of strange people doing particularly nothing, unmelodious music blaring, and cans, bottles, and general junk everywhere.

Rei laughed at the irony of Makoto's apartment being in such a state, due to her very own boyfriend. She then frowned at her own irony, which she had brought with her. She turned to her friends. "Hey everyone, this is Tora Akako. Akako-san, that's Kino Makoto, Mizuno Ami, Tsukino Usagi, and Chiba Mamoru. You probably remember Mina."

"I wouldn't forget her." She smiled charmingly, earning a blushing smile from Minako and a dismayed glare from Rei. She turned to Makoto. "You're place is… nice, Kino-san."

"It never looks like this!" Makoto tried to explain, "My boyfriend got me in to this. I didn't think this is what he meant by 'party'."

"There are a lot of guys." Mamoru commented nonchalantly. He realized they were all looking at him and added, "Maybe Ami-chan will find someone she likes."

"Eh?" This suggestion obviously caught Ami off guard.

"Don't be ridiculous." Makoto piped, standing with her arms crossed next to Ami. "Not from this crowd."

Ami looked at her, a small and very un-Ami-like idea forming in her head. "I don't know, Mako-chan. Maybe something different will be good for me."

"W-what? Are you serious?" Makoto looked shocked, as well as the others.

Usagi laughed, "Go Ami-chan! Do your _thang_!"

Mamoru cringed. "Sweetheart, please don't say 'thang'."

Ami giggled at her friends, but noticed Makoto's reaction. She was surprised, looking at Ami strangely, then turning away and smirking to herself, looking back at her once or twice. "Whatever you want Ami-chan."

Ami had trouble hiding her own smile. She looked around apprehensively, then with slight hesitation and to the complete surprise of her friends, sauntered to Makoto's sofa and coyly took a seat in between two very captivated strangers. The one on her left greeted her first, followed by the one on her right. Her friends' mouths hung open as she first modestly took her jacket off, revealing a very, un-Ami-like top, and then shook each of their hands with an amiable smile.

Makoto with her eyes wide, and her face pink, turned to Usagi. "Who is that? Are you sure you brought the right Ami-chan?"

"I kinda like her more," Minako laughed. She took Rei's hand. "Come on, let's join the party!"

The six of them diffused in to the revelry, Makoto to check on Freddy, Mamoru and Usagi to the balcony, and Rei, Minako, and Akako to the kitchen.

"This punch tastes funny." Rei commented, after gulping down a cup. She felt the need to say something after several agonizing minutes of silence. Minako was leaned in to her side, trying to get Rei to do more than hold her hand. Akako simply held her drink to her lips, hiding an interested smirk behind her cup, her eyes never really leaving the couple. Thoughts were abound in her head; she evened chuckled to herself a few times. Rei herself was at the height of discomfort. She cursed herself for having the brilliant idea of bringing Akako, and with Minako obviously ready to jump her bones, cursed her own stupidity.

"You look exquisite."

Rei's eyes shot to Akako's in an instant. She lifted an eyebrow, realizing she was not the one being spoken to. Minako blushed, "Thank you, Tora-san." She smiled at Rei's arm pulling her closer.

"She always does."

Akako almost grinned at the contempt Rei was showing in her eyes. She looked away from them and sipped her drink slowly. "Such a good couple." The smug smile she wore irked Rei to no end.

"Freddy? Who are those two guys on the sofa?" Makoto asked, forced in to a slow dance to a fast song by her tipsy boyfriend. She kept one eye on him and the other on the sofa. Currently they were offering her a drink, fighting over which she would take. Somewhat enjoying their bickering, Ami finally stopped them by taking both cups and taking a sip of each.

Freddy glanced over to where his girlfriend was staring intently. "Oh! Those are my buddies from the soccer team." He looked at them carefully and laughed loudly. "Looks like they're trying to pick up your friend." Makoto's eyes darted in to his. "Hey, don't worry about her. They're good guys, they're in a band. What more could a girl ask for?"

He put his head down on her shoulder while she rolled her eyes and mumbled, "How about someone who pays their half of the rent…"

The full moon's luminous light reflected in Usagi's pure blue eyes was enough to make Mamoru's head spin with its perfection. He concluded that this would be his only chance for the night; he closed his eyes and puckered his soft lips, slowly moving in for a leisurely kiss.

"It's cold out here. I have to use the bathroom."

"Wha?" Mamoru opened his eyes to see his destiny-bonded love leaving him. "Damn. Usako, wait up!"

Usagi opened the door to the bathroom and was immediately enveloped by a cloud of smoke. Coughing, she fanned the air around her and peered through the smoke to see six people in Makoto's bathroom.

"Yo, close the door!"

Usagi did so hurriedly but in her haste ended up on the wrong side, only to inhale more of the horrible smelling smoke. Suddenly she felt like sleeping, and leaned against the door with a lazy smile on her face. She fell haphazardly in to Mamoru when he opened the door.

"Usako?" Mamoru sniffed the air and shook his head. "Better find Makoto."

"What's the problem?" Freddy asked, seeing Mamoru practically dragging Usagi. Makoto pushed him out of the way and took a look at her friend. She turned to him with fury in her eyes. "I'm going to kill you." Freddy put his hands up in surrender, taking her words very seriously. She turned to Mamoru. "You should probably take her home. I'll get the others to help you if you need it."

It was a front and she knew it, but she had to find some way to check on Ami. After all, they were friends and she had to look out for her.

Ami's face was starting to hurt from smiling so much at the two gentlemen who were keeping her company. She smiled more from politeness, rather than actual enjoyment. Her eyes were constantly looking elsewhere, to see if another pair of eyes was looking at her. They never were though, so she resolved to be entertained by the two, who were obviously only telling her lies.

"Oh? An heir to a fortune? That's nice." She finally saw what she was waiting for. She smiled.

"Hi, Ami-chan. Having a good time?" Makoto asked almost sarcastically.

"Oh yes, a great time. And you?"

"The time of my life." They were teasing each other, and Makoto knew it. Ami's eyes gleamed with a certain mischief that she never saw before. She shook her head; she never saw it because she never looked for it, and she didn't need to look for it, she had a boyfriend. A wonderful, loving boyfriend. She didn't need Ami's remarkable intelligence, her softness, her warmth, her amazingly sexy legs, and she definitely didn't need the smoldering look she was giving her, that was making Makoto's blood rush like waterfall through her veins.

"Mako-chan?" Minako waved a hand in front of her friends face. "Mako-chan, this is no time to be zoning out. Mamoru is going to take Usagi home, and Freddy-san is crying like a baby. And I think someone may have spiked the punch, because Rei had some and her face is really red."

"What?!" Rei yelled from the kitchen. She spat the red liquid out and wiped her mouth indignantly.

Akako racked with jeering laughter. "Well, the punch is spiked, but I don't think that's why your face is red." Rei huffed and turned her back to the girl. Noticing that they were alone for the first time, Akako meandered to her and put gentle hands on her hips. Rei jumped away from her.

"ARE YOU—are you crazy?" She started to yell, but lowered her voice. She ran a hand through her hair and shook her head. "What… What are you trying to do to me? I need you to just, lay off."

"Lay off?" Akako chuckled. "You should think things through sometimes, Rei-san. Or at least learn to control yourself." She took a few steps toward Rei, backing her in to the kitchen counter. "It's because of you, I can't control myself right now." Her lips were centimeters from Rei's. She grinned. "And neither can she. She wants you right now. Only because she has no idea…" She laid a feather light kiss on Rei's lips, lingering there.

"Damn it, she's in the other room," The complaint came out with less protest in her voice than Rei wanted. Her eyes were closed and she succumbed, letting her hands go to Akako's waist, slipping underneath the blouse for a touch of her soft skin. "Not here, not here…"

The mandate was ignored completely and Akako's lips were suddenly pressed in to hers with excitement.

When Makoto opened the door to her kitchen she found Rei and that girl Akako standing a couple feet from each other, Akako laughing to herself, and Rei breathing heavily and wiping sweat from her brow. With a raised eyebrow she dismissed whatever oddities that may have been happening, and spoke to Rei. "Hey, Mina-chan's leaving with Usagi and Mamoru."

"Why?!" Rei's heart raced and sweat formed on her brow anew, desperately wondering if she'd been caught.

"Probably to make sure Usagi-chan's alright."

"What's wrong with Usagi?"

Makoto rubbed the back of her neck, embarrassed by the accidental incident. "You don't wanna know. Come on, you don't wanna miss them."

"Where is she?" Rei demanded of Ami, the only one they found in the living room.

"They left a few minutes ago. Mamoru-kun and Mina-chan felt it was urgent and left right away."

"Damn it!"

Makoto and Ami shared concerned glances. "Take it easy Rei, you'll see her tomorrow."

Rei swallowed and looked at them, knowing that they didn't understand. "I just needed to see her; I didn't get to say I love you."

Ami and Makoto smiled. They turned a strange look on Akako who chuckled behind a hand. She blinked at them. "Isn't that sweet? Well, I have early morning duties tomorrow…"

Rei nodded. "I guess we're going too." She gathered all the cheer left in her and gave Ami and Makoto a smile. "See you guys later. Sorry I can't stay and help out."

"Don't worry about it; I still have Ami-chan."

Ami smiled, glad for this fact. Her smile faltered though as she was forced to help Makoto with the daunting task of throwing everyone out. Finding Freddy first, sobbing and whining, they coaxed him in to falling asleep, then locked him in the bedroom, while they made every one else disperse. The hardest part was getting six people, who were half asleep, off the bathroom floor and out of the apartment.

Makoto clapped her hands an hour later as she looked around her apartment, again at the level of sanitation and purity she was comfortable with. Sniffing the air in her bathroom she frowned, but submitted that it would take a few days for that smell to air out.

"Finally back to normal," She said, and then realized she was talking to herself when no reply came. "Where's Ami-chan?"

She found Ami on the balcony, looking up at the moon in the clear black sky. She smiled at the sight. Silently she snuck up behind her and put a hand on her shoulder. She was mildly disappointed when Ami didn't jump, only looked at her, then back at the full moon. She cleared her throat lightly, "It's late. You can stay here tonight."

Ami looked at her again and she looked back. Makoto had to keep blinking to keep from falling in to a trance. Ami smiled. She felt suddenly very peaceful with the comforting way that Makoto was looking at her.

She reached up and took Makoto's face in her hands and brought their lips together, kissing her slowly. She pulled away, smiling, and opened her eyes. Then jumped back, realizing what she just did.

Makoto looked at her strangely. She licked her lips. Ami felt like she was dying. Swiftly she grabbed an arm and pulled Ami to her, and kissed her with unrestrained lust that she never knew, or never acknowledged was there.

A few heated seconds and she pulled away with a small smile, their forehead's touching and their breath gone.

Ami broke away suddenly, putting her hands to her face. "I'm sorry… I…" Unable to finish, she dashed to the door leaving a dazed and confused Makoto standing alone on the balcony.

She closed her eyes, shaking her head. She leaned on the railing of the balcony and put her head in her hands. "What the hell just happened?"

"You're home early." Artemis commented, raising his head from his rested paws to see Minako enter her room.

She stood in the middle of the room looking at her feet, clenching and unclenching her fists, breathing very hard.

"Mina? Is something wrong?" The worried cat asked.

Tears dripped on to her shoes. Suddenly she went to the dresser, picking up a framed photo and giving it a disgusted look before flinging it against a wall.

Artemis yelped and covered his ears with his paws. "Minako, what's going on?!" His voice had no impact on her as she started destroying every single photo on her dresser that contained Rei's face. She grunted and ground her teeth through tears as she ripped each one to shreds.

Her trembling hand landed on a recent picture, taken last week at the shrine. The priestess was smiling, her eyes appeared to be somewhere else other then the photographer. Minako looked carefully at the figure intruding in the picture, the irony was perfect.

Slumping to the floor, she crushed the picture in her hand, and brought her knees to her chest.

Artemis cautiously nudged her with his head. "Minako. What happened?"

Her body rocked with sobs, and her hand gripped harder on the crumpled photo. "I hate her."

>_You're so not cool if you don't review.  
Incubus - Nice to Know You_


	6. Six

>_If I treated you bad  
you bruise my face  
couldn't love you more  
you got a beautiful taste  
don't let the days go by  
could have been easier on you  
I couldn't change though I wanted to_

The morning light streamed in to Ami's bedroom, effectively moving her to shade her eyes. Instead of springing out of bed like she usually did, the blue hair girl groaned and turned on her side. She didn't feel like getting up, she knew if she got up she'd have to go out, and if she went out she'd see Makoto, and if she saw Makoto… Well she'd either spontaneously kiss her or run away, both of which she accomplished the night before. Ami groaned again, remembering the scene fully for the umpteenth time.

She came to the conclusion that she was either under the influence, or suffered a total mental melt-down. It was neither, she knew exactly what was happening, it was just too hard to stop herself. Makoto standing there in the moonlight, her green eyes telling Ami what she couldn't say, it was irresistible. She sighed and wished she could kiss her again.

Ami sat up quickly, having a profound thought. Since when did she think things like that? She laughed at herself, and started to wonder what would've happened if she hadn't ran away…

"Kami, I can be so stupid sometimes. I shouldn't have done it. She has a boyfriend, she has… him."

"Ami, who are you talking to?" Her mother stuck her head inside the room and gave her daughter a strange look. "I'm pretty sure schizophrenia runs on your father's side. Anyway, talk to a real person, your friend is on the phone."

Ami sighed and reluctantly took the phone from her mother. "Thank you Mother, but I wasn't talking to myself!" Her mother left with an amused smirk and Ami cleared her throat, praying that it wasn't who she thought it might be. "Um, hello?"

"Ami-chan, it's me, Usagi."

Ami breathed a sigh of great relief. "Oh. Hi, Usagi-chan."

"Ami-chan I need you to tell me what happened last night. I can't really remember anything past going in to Mako-chan's bathroom."

"Well, I know you were ill, so Mamoru-kun and Mina-chan took you home. But I was never told why." Ami's foot started to tap lightly on the floor. "Um, did you speak to Mako-chan… about last night?"

"Kind of. She said she really didn't want to talk about it, so I called you instead. Do you think something might've happened?"

Ami sighed, her foot's tapping speed increasing. "I can't think of anything."

"D'you think she got in a fight with Freddy-san?"

"I don't know." Ami felt herself losing some self-control, as she kept thinking about the previous night. "You should try one of the others to help you Usagi-chan."

"Hmm, Mina-chan's not answering, so I guess I'll call Rei."

"Why isn't Minako picking up her phone?!" Rei demanded of Usagi, practically choking her telephone receiver.

Usagi held the phone away from her ear so her hearing would stay intact. "Jeese, I dunno, she didn't pick up for me either. Rei-chan, I need to know what happened to me last night, I—"

"Can't help you, Mako-chan didn't tell me much. I have to go see what's up with Mina, bye."

Usagi frowned as the dial-tone sounded, indicating that Rei had hung up on her. "Am I ever going to know?" She complained to herself.

Despite the calming, beautiful weather, Rei's walk to Minako's house was swift and impatient. Ever since the night by the sacred fire with Akako, Rei was on edge about every single nuance of Minako's moods. Her guilty conscience wouldn't allow her to give Minako a reason to even frown. But that very own conscience also didn't allow her to stop seeing Akako.

She had become a paradox. She couldn't stop yielding to Akako, yet she desperately wanted things to be perfect with Minako. Rei cursed her regrettably confused thinking as she rang the doorbell. Despite this weakness in her moral fiber, she always concluded that she'd probably die if Minako ever found out.

That was the feeling she got when Minako opened the door.

Nothing seemed very wrong, just the apparent feeling of unease. Her eyes were blank and stared aimlessly at Rei, a thin line where her usual cheerful smile would be. Rei blinked at her, her palms became cold, something was definitely wrong.

"Hey, sweetie."

At the sound of Rei's voice Minako's blank eyes stirred and a fire that Rei never saw, nor expected to see burned in them. The burning eyes narrowed and shot in to Rei's, her mouth formed in to a disgusted scowl, and her hands balled up tightly in to fists. Rei was getting scared, the worst had happened but she didn't want to assume anything.

"Mina?"

Minako's palm seared against her face in a flash. She staggered back from the impact, cursing from the sting of the slap. Minako looked at Rei, holding her cheek, and looked at her hand. She balled it up again and tried not to regret what she just did.

Rei's own hand moved from her red cheek to her forehead. She looked at Minako, pain clearly painted on her face, tears steadily streaming out of her eyes. She shakily breathed, "I… I'm sorry."

Minako seemed hurt by the statement more than anything else. She swallowed back some tears, deepening her sickened frown. Blood rushed through her veins, her arms and legs became tenser. She shook her head at Rei, absolute contempt in her eyes. "I can't believe you." She barely whispered, emotions affecting her voice.

Rei didn't know what to do. She stepped closer, outstretching her arms. "Mina, I love you—"

Minako pushed her away viciously. "Get away from me! You're a god-damned liar! I hate you! I fucking hate you!"

Rei stepped back momentarily; Minako's words were hurting more than her physical abuse. "No, no, you love me—" Rei forced her arms on Minako despite her slapping and resistance. "I love you, I love you, you don't hate me…" Rei whispered to her, holding the girl's head to her shoulder, stroking her back soothingly. Minako all but collapsed in to Rei, sobbing hard in to her chest.

"No. No, you're not going to—" She pushed Rei away suddenly, wiping her tears.

"Mina!"

"No, Rei! I knew it, I knew something… Just get away from me, I can't even look at you." Minako's voice was clear and cut through Rei like a knife.

Rei's knees felt like they'd give out. She stared at Minako, agony in her deep purple eyes. "It was a mistake! I'm sorry, Mina, you know I lo—"

"Don't even say it… Save it for her." Minako's voice finally gave in to the sobs and through tears, her and Rei's eyes connected painfully one last time before she turned her back and closed the door.

Rei stared blankly at the door, feeling her life slip out of her hands. Her breath was lost and hot tears stung her eyes. "Minako."

She cried for a time after that, walking home. She took the long way, needing to relieve the stress in her body somehow. The tears stopped eventually and she walked slowly with her head down, wondering if it was all a dream, desperately hoping to wake up.

She ascended the shrine steps dolefully, spotting Phobos and Deimos when she reached the top. She looked at them and they looked at her, flying away quickly.

Upon entering her room her body sagged against the door, not knowing what else to do.

"Hey you," An unwanted voice greeted her from the bed. "Jeese, you look like crap."

Rei didn't have the energy to get angry, or the will. Her head swung to look at the girl, sprawled across her bed, smiling naively at her. She averted her gaze before those alluring brown eyes trapped her. "Get out."

Akako looked at her disbelievingly. "What?"

"Get out of my room." Rei told her plainly, firmly but with no anger.

The other miko studied Rei's face, a smile dawning on her as she came to a conclusion. "I see. Your little hottie caught you, didn't she?"

Rei's hands flexed at her sides. Akako continued, knowing how vulnerable she was at the moment, and absolutely loving it. "Poor, poor Rei-san. I bet you're awfully sad, aren't you?" She mocked Rei with a sultry giggle.

Rei's temper finally caught up with her. "I said get the hell out!"

Akako was taken aback, for once, by Rei's fury. "My, aren't you angry, considering you're the one who did the cheating. Kami, you act as if you're so innocent."

Rei bit her lip, wanting to lash out. She held back though, knowing Akako was not wrong. "Akako…" She began, through clenched teeth.

"Don't be so upset, Rei-san. Perhaps it's all for the better. Life goes on; she'll probably be underneath some guy by tomorrow."

"Don't you dare talk about her like that!"

Akako laughed, "You didn't seem to care that much last night."

Rei's blood boiled, but she was no longer enraged with Akako, rather with herself. She turned away, banging her forehead into a wall several times. Akako rushed to her, stopping her from injuring herself. She huffed, tears springing from her eyes. "Why did you come here? Why did you make me do this?"

Akako removed her hands from Rei's shoulder. "Rei, stop lying to yourself. I didn't make you do it."

"Then why? I love her… What's wrong with me?"

Akako looked away. "I don't know. Maybe you don't love her as much as you think you do."

Rei looked at her suddenly. She didn't want to believe it. "No. That's not it."

Akako shrugged. "If you say so. But hey, don't get too upset, she trailed a finger over Rei's jaw line, lifting her chin. Her lips closed in on Rei's, who submitted, but she stopped, smirking at Rei and her pitiful duplicity. "You can save the tears too. You're sorry you're going to jail, but you aren't sorry you stole." She abruptly left Rei to ponder that by herself.

Ami sighed sullenly as she stared at the window at the Crown, listening to Usagi's chattering. She turned slightly agitated eyes to her friend. "Why don't you just ask Mamoru-kun?"

Usagi was still trying to figure out what exactly happened to her the previous night. "I tried that. He won't tell me a thing, only laughs to himself and says that it isn't important."

"Then why don't you listen to him for a change?"

"Ami-chan…"

Ami frowned, taking her misery out on Usagi. "I'm sorry Usagi-chan. I'm not in the best mood."

Usagi smiled, she didn't even take it that seriously in the first place. "It's okay. You'll probably feel better when Mako-chan gets here."

Ami suddenly looked at her. "Mako-chan?"

"Yes, Mako-chan, who else? Well besides Rei and Minako, but I can't get in touch with either of them. They're probably together or something."

Ami returned to staring out the window, her gloom growing. At least Usagi would be there to make things less uncomfortable than she knew they would be. Suddenly her eyes caught sight of a streak of white trying to cross the street outside. "Isn't that Artemis?"

Usagi and Ami found the cat across the street, unable to get to the Crown due to the traffic that wouldn't stop for him. Usagi picked him up. "Artemis, what are you doing here?" Wary of conversing with the cat out in the open, they went into a discreet alley-way.

The lunar cat wasted no time. "You have to come with me, it's an emergency."

Ami gasped. "Where's the youma?"

"It's much worse than a youma. Minako, she's… She needs you all right now; I can't help her by myself."

Usagi nodded. "Okay, we'll come with you. Did you get Rei?"

Artemis looked away. "Um, no. That's the whole problem actually."

Usagi and Ami looked at each other, confused. "What do you mean? Did they fight?" Usagi asked worriedly.

Artemis shook his head. "You should probably find out from Minako. "

"Okay, we'll—" Usagi slapped her forehead. "I forgot about Mako-chan. We have to wait for her."

"Please, she needs you now."

Usagi knew she had to help her friend out. "Okay, I'll go with you Artemis. Ami-chan, stay here and wait for Mako-chan, then you two come to Mina-chan's house."

"What? Why me? Can't I go with Artemis?"

Ami's words were wasted as Usagi already started sprinting in the direction of Minako's house, the cat leading the way. Ami wandered back to the Crown and slumped down into a booth.

A few minutes later Makoto slid into the seat opposite her. Her green eyes looked cautiously at Ami, who sat up straighter and played nervously with her hands.

Makoto cleared her throat. "Hi—ohh." She had no idea why her voice squeaked, but it made Ami chuckle.

They stayed quiet for a few anxious seconds. Ami's foot tapped as fast as Makoto's heart was beating. She tried again to speak, hoping she wouldn't squeak this time. "Where's Usagi-chan?"

"Oh she went with Artemis to Mina-chan's house, there's an emergency. I forgot, we're supposed to be there right now." Ami talked fast and low. She got up from the table and quickly headed for the exit.

Makoto took a few minutes to catch up. "Hey, hey wait-up." She reached for Ami's hand to slow her down. Ami's eyes locked to hers. She let go right away. "Sorry." She smiled sheepishly. "You just don't have to run away from me."

Ami took a shaky breath before she dove in. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that; I might've been slightly intoxicated or something... It was just something stupid that won't happen again, and doesn't reflect," she paused here, knowing she was about to lie, "and doesn't reflect my feelings. I was probably hallucinating."

One corner of Makoto's mouth turned up in a dubious smirk. She looked at her shoes then slyly at Ami. "Must've been a pretty vivid hallucination."

Ami looked at her strangely. Why didn't she sound angry, or distant, or freaked out? "Yes, it was. Very. Anyway, I'm sorry."

Makoto shrugged. "It's okay, I didn't mind."

Ami looked away so she could hide the smile that was forming. She didn't know what to make of that last statement, though it felt like a good sign. She looked cautiously at Makoto, who peeked back at her. "And if it happened again?"

Makoto's heart rate soared at the smoldering look Ami was giving her. She licked her lips, unable to respond in words, only shy laughter. She wondered if she had ever imagined the day that _Ami_ made her blush.

Ami giggled, she had no idea where that had come from. "We should get going."

"Um, yeah, let's go." Makoto panted as if she had been worked out, and gladly let Ami lead the way.

Usagi had always put her friends first, the four other senshi were put on a higher pedestal than even her family. It disturbed her deeply to find Minako in the state that she did, the girl was a complete mess. Dark circles hung under her eyes which were bloodshot, making it obvious that she had been crying for a long time. Minako was now sobbing into her shoulder while she tried not to cry herself. The only words Minako had uttered were two names, giving Usagi enough information to accurately guess what had happened. Anything even vaguely reminiscent of Rei was destroyed, making Usagi close her eyes in disappointment and sympathy.

She couldn't comprehend why her friend would do such a thing to another friend. She thought they were in love, she believed that, like hers, their love would last forever. She comfortingly stroked Minako's hair, realizing not all relationships were bonded in past lifetimes and meant to last for eternity. She shook her head, it hurt her immensely, she couldn't even imagine what Minako was going through.

After some time Minako had ceased crying and the two just sat silently next to each other on the floor against Minako's bed, Usagi not wanting to push conversation. Fortunately Minako spoke first.

Her voice was a barely audible whisper. "What did I do Usagi?"

Usagi put a consoling arm around her shoulders. "Nothing, Mina-chan, you didn't do anything."

"Then… why?" Minako put her head into her hands to fight back the oncoming tears.

Usagi shook her head sadly. "I don't know Mina-chan. I really don't know."

When Ami and Makoto arrived Minako had run out of tears. She lay on her bed listlessly staring at the ceiling, a deep frown marring her fine features. Usagi sat by her side, biting her lip, wanting to say something, but not the wrong thing.

Makoto carefully came to her friend's side, while Ami looked around the room, fearfully picking up a scrap of a destroyed photo. She studied the scrap carefully, dread consuming her. "Mina-chan, what happened?"

Minako inhaled shakily, but wasn't able to answer. Usagi patted her leg, deciding to inform them for her. "You guys, um… Mina-chan, she, well, you see, Rei…" Usagi tried to calm herself, finding it difficult to complete the sentence, emotion bubbling in her throat. "Rei and… Rei did something…" She broke off, unable to finish, the disappointment she felt bearing down on her.

"What?" Makoto probed, deep concern showing on her face. "What'd she do?"

"She cheated on me."

Their heads snapped to Minako's clear whisper.

"W-what?" Makoto let out a disbelieving chuckle. "You're kidding, right? Rei wouldn't do that."

Minako's agonized expression told her the truth. "Apparently she would." She whispered in reply.

"Oh my God…" Ami's hands went to her face, shaking her head dubiously. "Rei-chan? How could she possibly…? Are you certain, maybe you're just being too suspicious—"

"I saw them! With my own god-damned eyes!" Tears streaked her face again, but she wiped them away roughly. "In Mako-chan's kitchen, yesterday…" They didn't ask who, they didn't have to.

Ami sat next to Minako, all of them surrounding her comfortingly. Usagi took her hand and squeezed it, unsure of what to say or think. "I'm sorry Mina-chan. I really am. I don't know what else to say."

Minako shook her head. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, praying that she wouldn't cry anymore. "Even with her… What a great a fucking Venus I am."

The rest of them looked away. Their own minds were jumbled in confusion, not knowing what to think. If it had been anyone else in the world, they would've banded together and extracted their revenge by any means possible, for hurting their friend. But it was unknown to them on how to deal with a friend hurting another friend.

Makoto got up and began to pace around the room, trying to ease her blood pressure down and ward off her immediate anger. She didn't like being mad at her friends. But right now it was very, very easy to be angry with Rei. Makoto knew what it felt like to be betrayed, to have your heart completely destroyed. She hated the idea of someone doing that to one of her closest friends. It stung even more knowing that it was Rei, not a stranger.

Ami watched Makoto stomp around, clearly identifying what was going on in her head, because much of the same was going on in hers. The level of disappointment she felt in her friend hurt her as much as she knew it was hurting Usagi and Makoto. They would've never expected it from Rei. She was supposed to be loyal, she was supposed to take care of Minako forever, and she was supposed to have better judgment. Much better judgment.

"Don't say that Minako," Artemis spoke up, suddenly. "You _are_ Venus. Nothing will change that."

They all looked at him, his statement raising questions in their minds that they would dread finding the answers to.

"Kami," Minako breathed, distress overcoming her as she came to a tormenting conclusion. She closed her eyes so she wouldn't see her friends' faces. "I can't be Sailor Venus anymore."

>_This chapter brought to you by readers like you. Thanks for the feedback, stay with me.  
Glycerine - Bush_


	7. Seven

_>I'm on the outside  
I'm looking in  
I can see through you  
See your true colors  
'cause inside you're ugly  
Ugly like me_

Rei was never one to show her emotions readily. However it was hard to sit and listen to Luna's harsh but indirect lecturing. Minako was not present, the only thing giving Rei any relief. The three others surrounded her though, disappointment, frustration, and gloom on their faces.

She put her forehead in a hand and allowed the tears to spring forth. Luna paused, but was not moved to let up on her tirade.

"I knew this wasn't a good idea in the first place, but I suppose you'd be following Haruka and Michiru's example… Oh don't look at me like that, Usagi, I'm not going to drag them into this. They don't let their personal life interfere with their duties, do you know why? Because their first priority is to protect the princess, not to satisfy raging hormones—"

"Luna!" Usagi warned her, not liking the attitude the cat took at all. "That's not fair. You're supposed to make sure we do our duties, not to judge our lives. I told you to come so you can encourage us as a team, not to wail on Rei. And besides, this hasn't gotten in the way of them protecting me—"

"That's the point Usagi!" Luna's shrill voice made them all cringe. "It hasn't yet, but it definitely will, especially now. We're about to lose Sailor Venus because of this farce! How do you expect for a team to battle evil if they're battling each other?"

Rei cried even harder. Despite trying to tell herself the opposite, it definitely felt like it was all her fault. In her worst nightmares, she never expected things to turn out this bad.

Makoto looked away from Rei, concentrating for a second on the girl's sobs. "Mina-chan's not going anywhere."

"And how do you know?" Luna challenged her.

"She's just not." Makoto answered firmly. "We all say things in the heat of the moment. When she cools off, she'll realize what's more important. And it's definitely not _this_."

"Perhaps it will be hard. No, it _will_ be very difficult. But the team must stay together, and to do this we need them to be comfortable around each other again." Ami offered, all listening intently. "They'll have to figure things out themselves." She looked sympathetically at Rei. "But the least we can do is have the regular meetings again."

Usagi nodded in agreement. "Ami-chan's right. She needs time, but everything will turn out right." She was staring off into space, but it seemed as if she was addressing Rei. "I guess we'll go now. Rei-chan, will you walk us out?"

Rei wiped her eyes on her sleeves, trying not to feel like all her dignity had been stripped away by these people who were being unnecessarily civil to her. With her head downed she rose and obliged Usagi. Luna made a peeved sound at having her authoritarian status cut down, but followed the rest of them out.

Makoto's head swiveled, looking from right to left as she walked through the shrine towards the exit, not so discreetly looking for something.

"She's not here." Rei answered the question that she knew was on her mind. Makoto moved to reply, but thought better of it. She narrowed her eyes a bit, giving Rei a final look before turning her back and leaving the shrine. Rei slammed the door after her.

Minako sank into Makoto's couch; she really did not want to be there at the moment. A very frightening speech from Luna about duty, honor, sacrifice, and the like, didn't make her feel any better, only guilty, for potentially jeopardizing the princess because of her own selfish reasons.

She felt naïve and stupid, having thought she was past getting sucked into these kinds of experiences. She thought she was wiser when she left England, but now she saw that she was quite the same, a damned fool. It was apparent that she'd have to see her again, and she didn't know what she'd do. Every time she thought about it, she ached. She wasn't as angry anymore, but still felt the pain; she just wished it hadn't happened. But it had, and she couldn't forgive her, although the unity of the senshi depended on it.

Makoto sat down next to her, almost cautiously, and gave her a soft smile. She tried her best to smile back, but was unsuccessful.

"Thanks."

"For what?"

"For doing this." Makoto answered. "I know you don't want to, and none of us can blame you. But… Y'know, we're involved in something… There are other things that are more, um, how do I put this…"

"I get it, Mako-chan." Minako stopped her, slightly irked by the girl's insinuation. "I know I was being selfish, I admit it. No matter what I'm Sailor Venus, I made that promise a long time ago. But… Kami, how was I supposed to know she'd—"

The emotions she had stuffed down were coming back up again and she tried to suppress it with a hand over her mouth. Makoto put an apologetic hand on her shoulder.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to—"

"It's okay." Minako reassured her, calming herself quickly.

Not knowing what else to do or say, Makoto left her and went to the kitchen.

"Jeese…"

"What happened?"

Makoto jumped realizing Ami was in there. "Nothing really. I'm just wondering how exactly this is going to be pulled off."

"What do you mean?" Ami questioned, taking a step closer.

"I mean, what are we expecting out of this? Mina-chan's not going to instantly forgive her. They're probably not even going to talk to each other."

"It will benefit the team more than say, them avoiding each other for months until one of them is ready."

Makoto shook her head, still not convinced. "Yeah, well… I can't even believe she did something like that in the first place. How could she?"

Ami focused on a spot on the floor. "People make bad decisions. Decisions on impulses. Sometimes the consequences are dire, and sometimes there are none."

Makoto's eyebrow rose at her. "Are we still talking about Rei?"

"Yes." Ami lied.

Makoto smiled at her. "It wasn't a bad decision."

"No, it was a hallucination."

"Aha! So you were thinking about that."

Ami cringed and tried to escape Makoto's playful smile and mischievous eyes. She tried to go past her, but was caught by the hand and quickly pulled to the bigger girl.

Ami gasped, she was so close she could feel Makoto's heart beating as fast as hers. "What are you doing?"

"Being impulsive." She leaned down, her lips an iota away from Ami's. They barely touched before Ami freed herself.

"What's wrong?"

"We can't do this!"

"Don't you want to?"

"Yes!"

Ami admitted it finally, bringing a trembling hand to her face. "But we can't. It's not right."

Makoto narrowed her eyes slightly, looking her over carefully. "Because we're girls? That's just—"

"No, no it's not that."

"Then what!"

Ami looked at her feet before bringing her sapphire eyes up to meet Makoto's. "You're with… _him_." She said it as if it pained her to do so.

Makoto still looked confused, and then realization washed over her. "Oh. You don't have to worry about him, he'll never find out."

Now Ami looked at her strangely. "I don't care if he finds out. It would just be wrong, if you two were still together and we… you know."

Makoto leaned against her counter and took a lengthy look at Ami, thoughts abound in her head. Ami felt self-conscious, with the other girl looking at her like that. "I guess you're right."

Ami waited for more an answer but Makoto didn't supply anything else. "And so?" She prompted.

A hint of mischief still lingered in her green eyes, and an easy grin spread across her face. She tilted her head to look at Ami and chuckled. "Too bad for Freddy."

Ami's knees buckled.

It was as if death itself had entered the room. That was the way Rei perceived it when a hush fell over the four others and they stared at her in silence. She meekly brought a hand up in a greeting gesture. Ignoring the others her eyes turned immediately to Minako, who chose to only look at the floor, certain that if she saw even her feet all self-control would be lost.

Tension steeped out of all of them, the uneasiness was palpable. Rei unabashedly made no attempt to even feign studying, staring into space and occasionally at Minako. Minako put a textbook in front of her face, feeling Rei's eyes on her like she always could. A feeling of longing rose up in her but she violently suppressed it, reminding herself once again of the transgression.

Hours passed in the same way. No one said anything of real importance nor tried to start a conversation. Rei remained in her pensive state and Minako continued to ignore her.

Finally, having enough of sitting and feeling she was being toyed with, Minako shot up from her seat. "Bathroom." She explained to the overly concerned faces.

After a moment's contemplation, something poked Rei out of her seat as well. Providing no explanation to the other three, she briskly took off towards the bathroom.

"Hey!" Makoto jumped up, trying to catch Rei before she got there. "Rei, no—" The door was curtly slammed in her face, and the doorknob had been quickly locked.

With desperation in her eyes Rei ignored Makoto's pounds on the door. Minako blinked, and then glared at her. Rei spoke before she had a chance to explode.

"I just want to talk."

"I don't want to talk to you." Minako said through clenched teeth, trying for the sake of Crystal Tokyo to be patient.

"Minako, please, just hear me out." Rei was desperate for at least this, sounding and feeling like a prisoner begging for mercy.

Minako was bewildered, trying to believe that Rei was doing something so obnoxious and barefaced. "What can you say to me? What, Rei, what can you possibly tell me?"

Her shrill voice carried all the way to the other side of the door, causing Makoto, Ami, and Usagi to back away.

"I'm sorry, Minako! I didn't want this to happen!"

"Then why did it happen?"

Rei was lost for words, she didn't know why it happened, she never knew. Minako shook her head. "You're despicable."

She said the only thing she could say. "I still love you, Minako."

"Kami, that doesn't mean anything anymore! It never meant anything to you!"

Rei staggered back, guilt compressing her more than ever. "It always meant something!"

"Really? Even when you were fucking that—"

"Minako, stop! It was a mistake!"

Before she allowed herself to start crying again, Minako glared Rei down with contempt in her eyes and resolved to simply get away from her. She tried to leave the bathroom, but Rei blocked the door.

Taking her by the shoulders, Rei forced her burning eyes into Minako's. "It was a mistake. I'm in love with you, Minako. And I know you still love me."

"So what…"

Her body wilted under Rei's touch. She allowed herself one last look into Rei's eyes before finally escaping the bathroom.

Makoto, Ami, and Usagi jumped away from the door as Minako stormed out, abruptly grabbing her bag and leaving Makoto's apartment. Rei followed suit a moment later, a troubled and pensive expression on her face. Giving a brief look to the other three staring her down, she too left.

Usagi peered into Makoto's bathroom, trying to believe the situation that had just passed. "We probably shouldn't have let that happen."

Ami and Makoto nodded in sullen agreement.

What was left of the study meeting was ended after that. Usagi came to the conclusion that maybe Minako and Rei weren't quite as ready as they expected them to be.

"So I guess we'll go now, Mako-chan. Ready, Ami-chan?"

Makoto's eyes pleaded with her to stay and looking at her at the moment Ami's mind couldn't find an excuse not to. "Um, well… Perhaps, I'll stay and help Mako-chan with, something…"

Not picking up on the electricity sparking between Ami and their host, Usagi plopped down on the couch. "Okay, I guess we should actually study."

Makoto's eyes widened, she had expected the girl to have bounded off to leave them to play teacher and student by themselves. "Umm, really? Because, I have absolutely no food left—"

Before Usagi could start tearing, Ami jumped in. "It's okay Mako-chan. I guess we'll go home then." Looking slightly dejected, Ami lead Usagi out of the apartment, before casting yearning eyes at Makoto.

Those eyes pierced right through her and she collapsed onto her bed, suddenly drained of energy. The feeling Ami left her with was not an entirely good one. She sprang out of bed and attended to her plants, put a batch of cookies in the oven, did sit-ups, anything to get her mind off the blue-haired nymphet. Finally she decided that the best remedy would be a nice freezing shower.

She was half-dressed and en route to the bathroom when he burst into the apartment, lively and thrilled.

"Freddy!" She exclaimed, so caught up in thoughts of Ami that for the while Freddy had ceased to exist.

"Makoto!" He cheerily shouted back at her. With a wide grin on his charmingly unremarkable face he excitedly gathered her up into his arms while she could only guess what made him so energetic.

She squirmed quite uncomfortably as he planted kisses on her neck and shoulders. "Freddy?" She gently pushed him away, feeling the flush on her face. "What's up with you? You're really, unusually… happy."

"You should be happy too babe." He only smiled at her adorably curious expression. "I'll explain later." He leaned in for a kiss, which she found herself almost accepting, but deftly turned her head to avoid it. Startled that he landed upon cheek instead of lips, Makoto answered his enquiring eyes with a sentence that she herself always dreaded hearing.

"We need to talk."

Freddy retracted from her quickly, cringing. "Oh boy, I know what that means. What did I do this time?"

Makoto scratched her head, not knowing how to go about in the actual act of dumping a boyfriend. She prepared in her head a few clichéd lines that would suffice to at least get him angry enough to leave on his own. "Freddy—"

"Wait a minute babe, let me give you this before you start yelling." Reaching into his back pocket he produced a thin stack of crisp bills. "Rent." He explained, grinning at her obvious bewilderment. "Next month's is there too. Okay, you can start yelling now."

Completely thrown by the sudden imbursement, Makoto held the paper loosely in her hand and narrowed skeptical eyes at him. "How'd you get so much money so fast?"

He shrugged his shoulders smugly, his chest filling with self-pride. "I found a," he paused to let the suspense build, "a job."

"Are you serious?" She looked him over, still very dubious. "What kind of job? Hey, are you selling drugs, making drugs, working for a crime boss, male prostitution?"

"No! Kami, no!" Freddy frowned at her overwhelming distrust. "It's legit, I'm not a drug-dealer or a prostitute. What's so bad about prostitution anyway, brings home the bacon—"

"Freddy!"

He laughed, taking her hand and leading her to the sofa. "After you kicked my ass the other day because of the party, I realized that I'm not taking this living together stuff as seriously as I should be. So I decided that I'm gonna do whatever it takes to make it easier to live with me. Because, I really have no where else to go."

She returned his warm smile and allowed him to kiss her gently before he laid his head down in her lap and dozed off. She too closed her eyes, sighing and shaking her head, trying to feel good about herself, yet guilt already swept over her. An unconscious hand ran through his hair and she wondered what exactly she did wrong to deserve this mess.

The Crown seemed like more of a dismal place than it usually seemed to Minako, bright, jolly, full of happy people and even more happy couples. Aloofly she sipped the soda Usagi had bought for her, a gloomy frown matching her gloomy outlook. Catching Usagi's concerned face she straightened up and tried her hardest to look like she was enjoying herself. "Thanks again for the soda, Usagi-chan."

"It's no problem Mina-chan. And I'm sorry again for yesterday. I should've known it was a bad idea." Minako reached across the table to touch her hand, giving her some reassurance.

"It wasn't your fault, so stop blaming yourself. You had good intentions. Unfortunately," her gaze turned icy, "certain others did not."

"Do you mean Rei?"

Minako slapped her forehead at the poor girl's density. "Yes. And for the record, I was trying to avoid bringing her up."

Usagi shrugged apologetically. "Sorry. If you don't mind, Mina-chan, don't you think you should at least try—"

"No."

"You don't even know what I was going to say!"

"I knew what you were thinking. And the answer is no. When would you start listening to Mamoru-kun if he ever did something like that to you? Hmm?" Minako slapped her knee, feeling like she had just checkmated Usagi, but the girl's silence was a contemplative one.

"I think I'd cry. A lot. But then I'd talk to him. I'd be sure that there was something wrong that made him do it, and we'd work it out. And then I would forgive him."

Minako read her as she spoke, honest conviction and deep-rooted love in her words. "I wish I were you sometimes."

"And I wish I were _you_ sometimes."

"I bet not now."

"I think you're still in love with—"

"Can we stop talking about it?" She cleared her throat and shifted in her seat, avoiding Usagi's sympathetic eyes.

They sat in silence for a while, letting Minako cool down. Usagi attempted to start conversation again but noticed a change in the girl's demeanor that was entirely different than a few minutes before. She was sitting straight up, lips pursed and eyes narrowed. A small scowl emerged over her features. Usagi worriedly followed her scorching gaze to a table behind her, clapping her hands over her mouth as she saw her.

In all her magnificently revolting splendor was Tora Akako. Yuuichiro was with her, dutifully pulling out a chair for the girl to sit, and then taking off to order something at the counter. Seeing that she was now alone Minako silently rose from her seat.

"Mina-chan, where are you going?" Usagi scrambled out of her chair and stood in front of her, arms spread. "Mina-chan, you are not going over there. Mina-ch— Minako!"

She tried to step around Usagi but the girl loyally tried to keep her under control. "You're better than that, Mina-chan. There's no need for any more problems." Minako finally saw reason and let Usagi lead her out. Before they could get far they heard a musically rude laugh from behind them.

"It's the little hottie! Oh if only Rei was here, we could have such a good time, although, I've already had good times with Rei."

Minako and Usagi turned around slowly to find her standing before them. Minako stepped in front of Usagi and calmly clenched her fists, shooting daggers in to the other's doe brown eyes that twinkled at the prospect of how fun she could make this moment.

"What can you possibly want from me that you haven't already taken?"

This greeting seemed to please Akako, showing that smirk that managed to be appealing and enraging at the same time. "If I wanted something, sweetheart, I could easily take that too."

The way she looked at her confused Minako, making her shift uncomfortably. She frowned. "You really _don't_ have a conscience."

She flashed that haughty smile again and Minako felt as if she would lose control and let her fists fly. She remained patient, with Usagi keeping a grip on her shoulder just in case. "Your girlfriend doesn't have much of one either, and I can't be blamed for that, now can I?"

"Well, you can go fuck yourself."

Akako found this the most amusing thing yet. "Kami, now I know what Rei saw in you."

Minako's patience was about to reach its limits. "Listen, you slut—"

"Hey, I'm not a slut!" It appeared that even Akako had some self-respect as she welcomed Minako for a brawl, the only thing stopping them being Usagi's forceful mediating, pushing Akako away while keeping Minako at bay with her foot.

"You would think that, wouldn't you?" Akako taunted, "You think I stole poor Rei's innocence and seduced her, right? Wrong!"

"What are you talking about?" Minako shouted, wanting nothing more than to strangle her but keeping her hands clenched.

"She came on to me."

Akako watched with proud cruelty as something inside of Minako seemed to snap. Her eyes blankly stared at the brown eyed girl and her hands became limp at her sides. But before she could utter words of arrogant triumph, Minako had slapped her.

She was too stunned to even wince. Thinking quickly, for once, Usagi took Akako's moment of shock to grab Minako and run with her out of the Crown. As their running slowed to a walk a few blocks away, they could still hear her screaming and cursing. Looking at each other they couldn't help but laugh.

"She deserved a lot more."

Usagi nodded in exasperated agreement.

Rei was more than slightly relieved when she found her bed empty when she returned home from school. It seemed Akako would always be there at the times when she was least wanted. Taking a look around the house though, she discovered that the girl was absent altogether.

"Yuuichiro," He was on all fours scrubbing the floor of the sacred fire room, "Where's Tora-san?"

"She left already."

Rei scratched her head, wondering where she might go in a city she doesn't know. "To go where?"

"Back to Yokohama, her grandfather called her back." Yuuichiro rubbed the back of his head nervously; Rei's eyes were burning holes in his face. She let up finally and sighed, very heavily.

"Oh," She said, the disappointment and melancholy in her voice surprising Yuuichiro.

"Well, if you want we might be able to still catch her. The train doesn't leave until 5:20. We still have time."

Rei looked at him and thought this idea over. She thought she'd be doing cartwheels the day Akako left, but suddenly she felt like something worthwhile was leaving. She wanted to at least say goodbye.

A train pulled up at the station and let out an ocean of travelers, making the crowded station even more so and adding to the difficulty of finding Akako. Rei was starting to lose her temper with all of it, pressed to the edge when a young man pushed her while running to "his love". She threw her hands up and sighed irritably. "Forget it Yuuichiro, let's just go home."

She started off but stopped when she realized he wasn't following her. He used his height to crane his neck above the crowd. Peering around he finally pointed, "There she is Rei-san," he paused, scratching his head then smiling in amusement, "Looks like someone came to get her already."

Rei began to push impatiently through the crowd of travelers, but Yuuichiro's hand on her shoulder stopped her. "Maybe we should give them some privacy."

"What are you talking about?" Rei was certain Akako and her grandfather didn't need that much privacy to greet each other. Confused she shoved through some more people, only to stop short as she beheld the scene that Yuuichiro mentioned.

Rei was going to scream. At first she couldn't comprehend what she was seeing, but slowly her entire body began to fill with rage. With utter helplessness she watched as Akako engaged in a deep kiss with an unknown man, the intimacy of it leaving no doubts of their relationship.

"Hmm," Yuuichiro rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "That must be her fiancé."

Rei's eyes closed as she realized she had been completely deceived. She had given up her love, her entire life, for fleeting moments of pleasure with her, the picture of false innocence. Strings were snapping inside of her and sharp pains shot through her chest. Turning and collapsing into Yuuichiro, she realized how much she had forsaken. And what little chance she had of getting it back.

_>The end is near! Stay with me.  
Staind - Outside_


	8. Eight

>_Every whisper  
Of every waking hour I'm  
Choosing my confessions  
Trying to keep an eye on you  
Like a hurt lost and blinded fool, fool.  
Oh no I've said too much  
I set it up. _

Comfortable, curled up, alone and utterly absorbed in a book that was far from school-related, Ami let out a romantic sigh, envisioning, and thoroughly enjoying, the riveting scenes. She sank deeper into the plush cushions of the couch, rubbing her bare knees together lightly. Chewing absently on a nail, she wondered how on earth she was able to identify with the middle-aged European man, and then with a small chuckle and bright blush recognized their likeness: desire.

It took a few sharp knocks at the door for her to realize that someone was there. Jolting out of her reverie she sprang up and cautiously went to answer it.

"Mother's not supposed to be home until morning, who could it—" She interrupted her own line of thought to grin pleasantly. Running a hand through her hair and fixing her pajamas quickly, she put on her most charming smile and opened the door.

All the charisma she had prepared methodically disappeared from her face and was replaced by confusion. Rei stood before her, leaning limply against the doorframe, her eyes cloudy and unfocused.

"Rei-chan?"

Rei wearily lifted her eyes to Ami's. "Hi. Can I come in?"

Ami hesitated, but taking in Rei's overall defeated demeanor she smiled amiably and ushered her in. "Can I get you anything?"

"No thanks," Rei plopped down on the couch, picking up Ami's book half-interestedly. "What's this about?"

"A hyper-civilized European in post-war America." She answered quickly, taking the book from Rei's hands and placing it far aside before sitting down next to her. "So…"

Rei ran a hand through her hair and sighed deeply. She gathered her thoughts as best as she could and looked despondently to Ami. "I… Really need someone to talk to. I don't think I can talk to anyone else, well, just because they all think I'm the devil."

"No one thinks—"

"They're not ready to listen to me either." Ami didn't answer, knowing this was true. Rei continued, "So I figured, you'd be my best shot."

Ami looked away, shifting in her seat. "I understand. What would you like me to convey to Mina-chan?"

Her derisive laugh confused Ami. "No, no. If Mina's not going to listen to me, she's not going to listen to you about me either." Melancholy returned to her face as she briefly thought of the blonde. She put her head in her hand and sighed again. "She's gone for good. Went back to her… fiancé."

Ami's eyebrows furrowed, her eyes went to Rei. There was no doubt about who she was talking about. Although surprised, she tried to keep an emotionless face. She cleared her throat several times, not knowing exactly what to say. "Wow… well, that's… unexpected."

Rei nodded, her head still in her hands.

"I can't say that I feel very sympathetic."

Rei lifted her head to give Ami a hard look. "I don't need you to feel sympathetic."

Ami put her hands up, but stuck by her feelings. "You needn't get defensive. I'm just telling you how I feel."

Rei leaned back into the couch and closed her eyes resignedly. "And I suppose you feel that I deserved it and worse, and that hell should open up beneath my feet and swallow me up, and that it's great that I know what it feels like to be—"

"Rei-chan, I never said or implied any of that."

"But that's what you think. And guess what, that's what I think too. I don't care what happens to _her_, even if she did make an ass out of me. All I care about is Minako."

Ami let her stew in silence for a while before replying. After some thought of her own she put an encouraging hand on Rei's shoulder. "I always knew you cared a lot for Mina-chan, that's why it was hard for me, and the others, to believe something like this would happen. Whatever reasons there were, I think you regret them now."

"That's the thing though that makes it even worse. There were no reasons. I still don't know why it happened."

"There has to be something."

Rei shrugged. She rubbed her eyes and breathed deeply. Perhaps, she thought, she might as well say what she'd been thinking the whole time. "It would've happened anyway."

"What would've happened?"

"We would've broken up or something like that. Maybe it wouldn't have ended like this, or maybe it would've. I don't know. But that's the way she was making me feel."

Ami leaned back in her seat, stunned by Rei's revelation. "Oh my. So you two were having problems?"

"Mm hmm," Rei nodded, "But, I know I shouldn't have… went that far. I really, really miss her Ami-chan. I want her back."

Ami squeezed Rei's shoulder, the girl's honest confessions suddenly making her feel optimistic. "If you truly love her, Rei-chan, everything will work out. She just needs time."

"How much time?" Rei's voice clearly conveyed her desperation.

"I have no way of knowing that. But, if it's worth anything, I'll try talking to her for you."

Rei nodded and abruptly rose out of her seat, stretching her tense limbs. "I really appreciate it Ami-chan, although I'd like it much more if you could get her to talk to me."

"Wouldn't that be asking too much?" Ami's eyes cautiously reached Rei's. The girl smirked disdainfully, her stormy eyes focused on the floor. "I guess you're right." She shrugged and with an appreciative, but depressed smile she left the apartment.

"Mother, listen to me. I'm going to tell you this for the last time. I am not going to that shrine."

"Minako, if I have to drag you there by the ear with a slipper in my hand, you are going. And that's that." Mrs. Aino turned her back on her unbearably irritated daughter. She turned back as soon as the girl had stopped mouthing curse words at her. "What's the matter with you anyway? You don't go out anymore, not even with your friend with the hair, and you just sit around here moping all day. I suppose, it's good since you need to study, or else you'll never get into college, which is why we're going."

Minako looked at her incredulously. "We're going to pray for my college acceptances? I have a year left!"

"If you opened a book now and then we wouldn't have to start so early!"

Minako carefully curbed her anger, feeling her blood boiling under her skin. "Mother. For God's sake, can we at least go to another shrine?"

"What's wrong with the Hikawa? You go there everyday to see your friend, and now you can't go for the benefit of your own future?" Her daughter didn't answer, only clenched her teeth, and Mrs. Aino looked her over carefully. "Oh I see, you're fighting with your friend. I bet it's over a boy."

Minako closed her eyes, her nails digging into her hands. Her mother was insufferable enough, having her talk about Rei and yet dragging her to the shrine, was too much. "It is not over a boy." She drew out the words with very strained patience.

"Then what could two young girls be fighting about, if not a boy?"

Minako shrugged, but after a beat of silence a smirk formed on her lips. "A girl."

Mrs. Aino froze, but she saw her daughter's mischievous smile. "Minako, you're too much. No more cable TV for you."

Ami bit her lip to hide her smile as she knocked lightly on the apartment door. Rei's sudden surprise at her own door inspired the one she was devising at the moment. She had given Makoto ample time to get rid of the only obstacle standing between them, and since then Ami had been literally licking her lips in anticipation, unable to wait any longer.

Her smile faded quickly when the door opened.

"Hi, Ami-chan! Can I call you that, Ami-chan?"

Ami's eyebrows knitted together, her brain trying to comprehend why Freddy was still there, answering the door, in his pajamas, and calling her Ami-chan. She tilted her head, disappointment consuming her. "No." She said plainly.

Freddy laughed, although there was no humor to be found from Ami. "That's okay, you can call me Freddy-kun if you want, but nobody does. Everyone calls me Freddy, even though it's not my real name. My real name is Frederick."

Ami narrowed her eyes at him, nodding slightly. She felt like she was in the presence of a small child. "That's interesting..." Ami was lost for words, clinging to the belief that she was mistaken and everything would be clarified soon.

"Hey babe! You came just in time," Ami turned to see Makoto coming towards them, her tank top drenched with sweat, apparently she had been working out. She stopped and brushed her wet bangs out of her face and sighed. Freddy looked at her and looked at Ami, wondering why nothing was being said. "It's Ami-chan. She came to see you, I guess."

Makoto looked at Freddy and feigned a smile. "Yeah, I got that. Why don't you go inside and let us talk out here, okay?"

"No problem, lover. See you later, Ami-chan."

Makoto closed her eyes; the poor guy didn't know how bad he was making things. She and Ami looked at each other for a moment before the obviously hurt blue-eyed girl turned away. "Well, the writing's on the wall." She sighed before walking away.

"Wait a minute Ami. It's not what you think."

She turned back emphatically, "What else can it be?" She paused and toned her voice down. "You want to be with him. It's okay."

"I want to be with you." Makoto stated forcefully.

"You can't have both!" Ami replied just as intensely.

"I know." She tensed but relaxed under Makoto's soothing touch. "I don't want both either." Makoto leaned in; she could feel Ami trembling slightly. "I want _you_. But… It just got really hard to break up with him. He suddenly gets a job and pays rent, and it just isn't as easy as I thought it would be."

Ami sighed as she tried to understand. She had never broken up with someone nor vice versa, but she didn't like hurting people's feelings either. It was obvious though, that someone's feelings would be sacrificed, and she wasn't entirely sure if Makoto wouldn't allow it to be hers. But as their lips touched and new sensations grew with every kiss, Ami was sure that she didn't want to miss this opportunity. Even if it did require her to be a little ruthless.

Remembering how wrong it truly was, Ami broke the kiss but let her lips linger near Makoto's. "I can't take much more of this. It's not right."

"I'll take care of it. Don't worry." Makoto craved another kiss but Ami eluded her. She took a step back and blew frustrated air threw her lips. "Okay, this needs to be done soon or I'll jump off a cliff. Come over tomorrow, in the afternoon, and we'll think of something, okay?"

Ami nodded and reluctantly let go of her. Makoto grinned at her, the cute pout driving her crazy. Ami caught her lusting eyes and only smirked back temptingly, turned and walked away.

Usagi blinked, the bright sunlight of the day contrasting with the dark movie theatre she, Ami, and Minako had just emerged from. "That was such a good movie. Did you cry? I cried."

Minako shrugged. "I thought it was tacky and stupid."

Usagi frowned; she had been in that mood the entire day. Ami checked her watch, as she was doing frequently throughout the movie, and smiled to herself now that the hands read four o'clock. "Look at that it's four already, I'd better go," she said casually.

"What's the rush, Ami-chan?" Usagi asked innocently enough.

"I have… business to attend to, I'll see you guys later…" She was already walking away as they said their slightly confused good-byes.

"Isn't that a little suspicious?" Minako asked, watching her hurry down the street.

"Maybe she's going to meet her secret boyfriend, who's really hot so she doesn't want anybody to know about him so she can have him all to herself."

"Either that or he's hideously ugly."

Usagi gasped. "That just reminded me, I have a date with Mamo-chan tonight!" Minako didn't bother to find out why "hideously ugly" would remind Usagi of her boyfriend. "I have to go home and get ready!"

"You're leaving me all by myself?" Minako asked, slightly peeved. "Ugh, I don't want to go home, I'll have to deal with my mother."

"I'm sorry, Mina-chan. I'll call you later."

Minako just nodded, now feeling like she wanted to be alone. She walked through the streets by herself, not really paying attention to anything or anyone, even those that whistled at her. She remembered how angry Rei would get over things like that, sometimes even chasing the offenders.

Wandering a few more blocks, she found herself at a playground. Sitting on a bench she wistfully smiled as she watched a few little children play. As much as she wanted to get on the swing set herself, she just sat and watched, partly because she didn't want to look like an idiotic teenagers swinging alone and partly because she knew it would trigger memories that she was better off forgetting.

Slowing her jog to a leisurely walk, Rei headed for the water fountain near the playground. After splashing her hot face with the cool liquid she stretched a bit as she looked around, trying to decide whether to keep going or quit for the day. Feeling the tension still in her muscles she decided on the former, only to have more stress tighten up her body when she spotted Minako across the playground.

She wrung her hands anxiously, contemplating on whether she should go to her. Seeing that she was alone she figured it would be as good a time as any. Minako barely noticed a figure from across the playground, staring in her direction. She caught her eyes briefly and they looked at each other for a moment, both perceiving the other as somehow different from the last time they saw each other. Minako looked away first, and then quickly left the bench, hurrying away from the park.

"Damn," Rei sighed before breaking out into a sprint to catch her. She ran in front of Minako, impeding her way by grabbing her shoulders. Immediately she let go but kept herself in front of the other girl.

They looked at each other again, Rei longingly and Minako irritated. She sighed, not having the energy to become angry. "I told you to leave me alone."

"We have to seriously talk sometime."

"No we don't."

Rei threw her hands up, completely frustrated. "Yes we do! I know I made a mistake and I'm reminded of it every single day. I need you to forgive me, Mina. I need you back."

Minako couldn't look at her, more out of need for self-control than disgust. She wavered back and forth between springing herself into Rei's arms or simply turning her back. Many sleepless nights and miserable days told her she missed the miko, but she felt she knew better than to forgive her, because no matter how much she tried to forget, it still hurt.

Rei waited for a response, but Minako wasn't even looking at her, eyes shifting elsewhere. She clapped her hands together suddenly, startling the blonde, and clasped them tightly. "Look at me Minako. I'm begging for your forgiveness." Tears rolled down her cheeks but Minako only flashed her eyes over her. "Mina, I'll get on my knees if I have to."

"Then do it." Her blue eyes finally met Rei's. "You're so sorry, aren't you?"

"Yes…" She whispered, past the edge of desperation.

A frown deepened on Minako's face, shaking her head. She looked away from the miko's gaze, feeling herself lose some control. Rei's eyes were always captivating, even when she was crying. A hand came up and lightly touched her shoulder, giving Rei some hope. "Rei… Just tell me why. Why did you…"

She touched the blonde's hand, gradually grasping it in her own. "There isn't a good reason."

Minako didn't retreat as Rei stepped closer to her. "But there's a bad one." She whispered back, on the verge of correcting their lives again. The other hand came to rest on Rei's hip. "Why?"

Rei began to smile. She could feel her life coming back to her. "Why does it matter now?"

"I just need to know."

Rei closed her eyes, ecstatic as she and Minako almost embraced. "I don't know, Mina." She whispered in her love's ear.

"You don't know?"

"No. I don't."

Minako's hands slipped away from her body and suddenly the warmth she was beginning to feel again disappeared. "You don't know?" Rei was thoroughly confused as Minako recoiled from her. "You don't know why you hurt me so much? You don't why you put me, put all of us threw all of that garbage?"

Rei was dumbstruck, sputtering and scrambling for words, but having nothing to say. All she could think of was the truth. "No. I don't."

Minako shook her head, disappointed that she had come so close to going back. "You are so— ugh!"

"Why? Because I don't know?" Rei's voice had risen, as did her temper. "You can't forgive me, because I don't know! What the hell? I'm not accepting that."

"Too bad."

Rei locked her fiery gaze onto Minako. "Do you want a reason? Do you really want a reason, so freakin' bad?"

"Yes!" Minako shouted, not intimidated by Rei's ferocity.

"If there was one I wouldn't tell you, because I want you back. I can say sorry a million times, but it's probably useless. I just want you to forgive me. Will you?"

Minako frowned at her, looking at the sincerity in her face, yet blinded by her own anger and pain. "No."

Rei's eyes widened, she was obviously expecting a different answer. She closed her eyes tightly so there would be no tears. She swallowed back any emotion and said evenly, "Fine." She turned her back, knowing that was it, the end of everything.

Minako watched her go silently before turning the opposite way. Tears streamed down her face and she didn't bother to wipe them away. She looked back over her shoulder a few times, hoping to the gods that she didn't just make the biggest mistake of her life.

>_No, it's not the end, I;m not that cruel. But I'm very capable of cruelty.  
Losing my religion - REM_


	9. Nine

_I want you to remember  
Everything you said  
Every driven word  
Like a hammer, hell to my head  
The chemicals between us  
The walls that lie between us  
Lying in this bed the chemicals displaced  
There is no lonelier place  
Than lying in this bed_

"What time is it?"

"Almost five."

Makoto nodded and paced around her living room, going over in her head the plan she and Ami had concocted to oust her boyfriend. "He should be here in 15 minutes, give or take." She paused in her treading and grinned. "Let's practice."

Ami put her book down and sighed. "We've practiced about ten times already. It's not the hardest plan to carry out."

"Still!" Makoto whined. "It never hurts to put a little more time into it." She crawled towards Ami, seated on the floor, who couldn't resist the mischievous grin. Their lips came together in a slow kiss, which picked up tempo quickly.

Ami jerked away from her suddenly, "I think I hear him coming!"

"Okay, okay, okay… Relax. Let's follow the plan." Makoto calmed herself down, excited by the idea of their plan being executed. They had decided to take the easiest way out, not to tell Freddy about them, but to show him, much like what Rei and Minako did, except he would "catch" them and then hopefully be outraged enough to leave Makoto on the spot. It was foolproof.

Makoto opened the apartment door slightly then quickly jumped onto the sofa, where Ami was waiting. She chuckled playfully before pulling Ami to her, engaging in the most intense kiss yet.

She could hardly contain herself as she heard him enter. His feet shuffled a few times before coming to a shocked stop near them. She threw in a few moans for good measure then pulled away from Ami. Her eyes were wide, going along with the plan, acting like she was surprised to see him. Makoto curbed her smile and went along with it. "Fr… uck."

"Fruck is right! What the fruck are you guys doing!"

Ami and Makoto all but shoved each other away as Usagi stood in astonishment in front of them. They both opened their mouths to explain, but only succeeded in flustered gibberish.

"One at a time!" Usagi shouted, trying to listen to both simultaneously. "Mako-chan?"

Makoto sighed and slapped her forehead for her blessed misfortune. "You're not Freddy. You're not Freddy!"

Usagi looked at them strangely. "Duh! But what were you guys doing? You have a boyfriend, Mako-chan!"

"Exactly." Makoto looked over at Ami, so red she could've stopped traffic. "Usagi, listen. I'm breaking up with Freddy. And Ami's helping me."

The blonde looked from Makoto to Ami and back to Makoto. "There are other ways to break up with people. That's kind of mean actually, don't you think?"

"I know, but…"

"And you're using Ami-chan like that? I mean you could've at least gotten Rei or Minako, at least they're experienced."

Ami's eyes darted on her, then to Makoto. "There's more to it than just 'using' me Usagi-chan."

Usagi's blank expression beckoned more explanation. Ami sighed. She scooted closer to Makoto on the sofa and their hands came together in a simple yet clear statement. The moon princess closed her eyes and dropped onto the nearest chair exasperatedly, not the reaction they wanted or expected. "Usagi…?"

"Are you guys serious?"

Makoto furrowed her eyebrows, looking at Ami for an explanation, who had none. "Yeah, of course we are. What's wrong?"

"I just… After all this stuff that's happened with Rei and Minako… I don't know if it would be such a good idea for you guys to start this too."

"What?" Makoto almost jumped out of her seat. "Are you kidding me? We are not Rei and Minako. We would never do what Rei did!"

Usagi looked at her seriously, a silent regal authority about her. "You're doing it to Freddy, Mako-chan."

Makoto knew she was right, but still didn't accept her decision. "I can't believe you're doing this to us Usagi." Ami tried to soothe her, but ended up burying her own head in her shoulder to hide her tears.

Usagi looked away; she couldn't see her friends unhappy, especially because of her. She knew it was what Luna would've recommended, but Luna wasn't their best friend. "I'm sorry! I don't know what else to do! I just don't want either of you getting hurt."

"What makes you think I'd hurt Ami, or she hurt me?"

Usagi shrugged. "I never thought Rei would do it either."

Makoto jumped out of her seat, completely enraged. "I'm sick and tired of hearing about Rei! Why are we being punished for what she did?"

"Mako-chan, please, listen to me. You guys are my guardians—"

"And you're supposed to be our friend!"

Usagi stood to meet her, Makoto's last comment touching a nerve. "I am your friend! But we're also senshi."

"Then maybe I don't want to be a senshi anymore."

They stared at each other in silence, Usagi's eyes brimming up with tears. She tilted her head to gauge the truth in Makoto's words. Makoto turned her back defiantly.

Usagi shook her head, running out of the apartment as fast as possible.

"Oh Kami. Usagi!" Ami sprang up to chase her down.

"Ami, where're you going?"

The blue-eyed girl set a disappointed gaze on Makoto. "You can't say that, Makoto, no matter what. You just can't."

Her hand came down heavier and heavier on the wooden door each time she knocked. "I know someone's in there," she tried to shout through the door. "The lights are on."

The occupants inside seemed to realize their folly and the translucent light coming from the front windows immediately disappeared. Makoto sighed and tried knocking again. After minutes of futility she finally just let her head bang against the Tsukinos' front door. "I'm sorry, Usagi. I'm really sorry." The desperate honesty in her voice carried through to the inside of the house and after a few seconds of furious whispers the door opened, but it was the wrong blonde who opened it.

"Mina-chan?"

"Hi, Mako-chan. I would let you in, but…"

Makoto tried to look inside, but Minako firmly blocked her view. "She's still mad?"

Minako shook her head at the taller girl. "She's hurt."

Guilt was festering in Makoto's chest, but there was still a large dose of obstinacy left in her. She felt bad about what she said as soon as she said it, but doggedly felt it was justified. "Oh come on, she made me say it."

"Mako-chan!" Minako was thoroughly surprised with her friend's attitude.

"She's making a bad decision, Mina-chan. I don't see any reason why me and Ami should be punished for what Rei did."

Minako's head tilted to look at her in a way that made her step back slightly. "Why should Freddy be punished for a decision you and Ami are making?"

Makoto's green eyes flashed about, anger growing inside her. "This is not about Freddy," she spat with taut patience.

"It wasn't about me either, I guess."

Makoto didn't have an answer to that. She shook her head before throwing her hands up and storming off the front porch.

Minako closed the door after watching her stalk away from the house, clearly upset. "This sucks, Usagi."

Usagi clutched a throw pillow to her chest and sniffled into it. "I know."

The feeble way in which she made this admission stirred an uncontrollable anger in Minako. "This is Rei's fucking fault! Everything! Everything is fucked because of her!"

The Moon Princess silently let her release all her frustrations until she collapsed from exhaustion on the couch with her. "I never thought you guys would quit because of me."

Minako turned her tired eyes to her friend. "Nobody's quitting. And especially not because of you."

Usagi shook her head. She stared straight ahead, focused on nothing in particular. "If some enemy decided to attack us right now, it'd all be over. We'd all be fighting for different things. Not each other, or Crystal Tokyo or anything."

Minako listened to her intently, eyes focused on her truly overwhelmed expression. "We'd be fighting for you." She looked away from Usagi, fatigued by how vulnerable she looked. "You should let Ami and Makoto be together."

Usagi's eyes snapped on her. "But what about—"

"There's no sense in not allowing it, it'll happen anyway."

"But you and Rei..."

Minako closed her eyes and shook her head thoroughly. "Whatever. She… Whatever. I'm over it."

Usagi looked at her carefully. "I dunno Mina-chan…"

"I am." Minako stated firmly, though the disquiet in her eyes belied her words. "Now go call Mako-chan."

Rei coughed and sputtered, her face turning bright red, trying for dear life to stop choking. Ami rushed to her side, realizing she had chosen the wrong moment to begin informing her about the events of the previous day.

"I'm sorry," Rei said after regaining the use of her voice box, "You and Makoto? You said you and Makoto?"

Ami nodded handing her a glass of water. "Yes." She frowned. "Is it really that surprising?"

Rei scratched her head, she knew Ami had something important to tell her when she called her to her apartment, but she hadn't imagined this. "I'm not sure. I would've never guessed you'd be swinging in my direction, Ami-chan." The blue-haired girl put her head in her hands while Rei chuckled at her. "It's not a bad thing, don't be embarrassed."

"I'm not embarrassed," she sighed. "It's just not a very funny situation."

"You're right, I'm sorry. So does anyone else know?"

Ami turned big, uneasy eyes to Rei. Sighing deeply, she described the entire ordeal to her. Rei controlled all of her urges to outburst and was silent until she finished. The miko leaned back in her seat and blew air through her lips, astonished.

"Mako-chan really said that?" She asked after a few moments of quiet.

Ami nodded, it was all still obviously weighing a lot on her.

Rei leaned forward and rubbed her hands together as she worked some carefully digested details over in her mind. Discontent was slowly building in her and a certain fact was threatening her temper. "I can't believe it."

"What?" Ami asked, as Rei murmured to herself, apparently peeved.

"I can't believe after all that shit Makoto gave me… Yet she has no problems cheating on her boyfriend."

"Rei it's not like that." Ami realized what this could lead up to and immediately tried to soothe her volatile friend. "It's… different."

"But it's not."

Ami sighed again, having nothing else to say. She agreed with Rei, essentially it was the same, only different circumstances. But since she was apart of those circumstances, it only made the admission that much more difficult.

They sat in silence, both steaming in emotions.

"Everything's falling apart, Rei."

The statement that broke the silence caught Rei by surprise. She furrowed her eyebrows, taking in Ami's expression. "I guess it is," she admitted. "How do we keep it together?" Rei asked, knowing she would have an answer.

Ami's blue eyes closed. "I don't know."

Rei bit her lip. It was never a good sign when Ami was out of answers. She looked at her and frowned, a heavy feeling settling in both of them, surrendering to the overpowering situation. She put an arm around her shoulders and they embraced, while Rei wondered how one moment of hurt and confusion, one lapse in judgment, one regretful act on desire could have such far-reaching consequences for her and every single person that she cared about.

The comfort of the other lessened their dejection, though both now noticed how few answers they had compared to the many problems they faced.

"Thanks." Ami quietly said to her as she prepared to leave.

Rei smiled at her, showing her own gratitude. "Not everything's falling apart Ami-chan. At least I still have you on my side."

"We haven't taken sides—"

Rei stopped her with a sarcastic laugh and opened the apartment door. She kept laughing when she saw Makoto, panting from running up the flights of steps to Ami's apartment. Her green eyes flashed at the miko, who continued to grin at her.

Ami looked at Rei strangely as she grinned, apparently hiding her anger with the smile. Her blue eyes turned to Makoto.

Rei looked at each of them as they looked at each other, the disdain in her smile fading. "I was just leaving…" She looked particularly at Makoto, who neglected to pay attention, her eyes focused solely on Ami. She smiled again, this time with enjoyment, suddenly feeling optimistic. Thinking better of saying anymore, she slipped away from them, looking back once with a pleased smirk.

Ami spoke first, her eyes shifting about, not wanting to look directly at Makoto. "Did you talk to her yet?"

"Yeah, Minako finally got her to talk to me." She looked over Ami's shoulders into the apartment. "Are you going to invite me inside?"

She avoided Makoto's eyes carefully. "Not yet."

Makoto nodded understandingly. "Well," she smiled sheepishly, "I apologized for all that stupid stuff I said. And she apologized. She said she doesn't want to keep us apart." Her smile grew as she closed the gap between them.

Ami wasn't as celebratory as she expected her to be. "What about _him_?"

"I…" She looked away, cursing herself for not having the right answer. "I haven't gotten to do it yet, but I will, I swear." She frowned as Ami shook her head.

"Don't do this Makoto. You don't have to do this for me. I understand that you still want to be with him."

Makoto sucked her teeth in frustration. "Don't you understand, Ami? I didn't just put my fate and my identity on the line so you could be my 'mistress' or something. I'm done with him, believe me."

Ami rubbed her eyes for clarity; she felt like everything was suddenly devoid of logic. Makoto was basically telling her that Usagi had forgiven them, they could be together, and everything was resolved. But the feeling inside her still said that things were in disorder.

She looked cautiously at Makoto, hoping to glance at her without the taller girl looking at her, to study her without worry about being studied. Unfortunately Makoto's focus was pinned on her. There was a certainty in her eyes that Ami wished she had.

"I don't know, I still don't feel right about something."

Makoto was bewildered. "What? How? _What!_ Ami, we can be together! Be happy!"

She took one of Makoto's hands in both of her own and smiled assuredly. "I am. But, I want Rei to be happy too."

"Rei?" Makoto loosened her hand from Ami's. "She almost cost us this. Besides she seemed pretty happy when she was leaving."

Ami gave her a sharp look. "I hope you're not implying—"

"No, no, no, that's not what I meant." Makoto slapped her forehead, chuckling to herself. "Look at us already. Only the gods know why we're all so jealous and protective."

"Because that's what we were meant to do, protect. And we would do a much better job if we were a team again."

"We are a team!"

Ami looked at her seriously, and Makoto rubbed the back of her head embarrassedly. "Okay, we're not as tight as we used to be. And…" She sighed, "I'll admit that part, a minimal part, of it may be my fault. But not all of it."

"Maybe it's better to not try and place blame, like we've been doing."

"Because in the end, we know whose fault it is."

"Makoto!"

She laughed again, this time at Ami's reproaching, but cute tone. "You're right, you're always right." She said sincerely with a wistful sigh, leaning towards the smaller girl. "Can I come in now?"

This time Ami laughed at herself, realizing she had been carrying on the entire conversation with Makoto in the hallway while she was standing in the doorsill. But she didn't let her in yet. "Will you talk to Minako with me?"

"About Rei?"

Ami nodded. Makoto shifted her eyes from Ami to the interior of the apartment, where she was desperate to be. "You've talked to Rei about all this haven't you?"

"Yes, about _everything_."

"Hmm," Makoto chewed it over in her head, "And she wasn't a jerk about it, like I was to her. I guess I'll talk to Mina, if you say that she really is sorry."

"She really is sorry."

Makoto put her hands on the doorframe. "Good… Can I come in now? Please?"

Ami only smiled, an impish little smile, and moved aside to let her in.

Artemis' tail twitched uneasily as he sat on Minako's bed and watched her. She had been staring out the window for over an hour. Ami and Makoto had been there earlier, and had shared some interesting news. He shook his white head and sighed, guessing, and hoping, that it was all destiny. Minako would've told him that destiny was bullshit. He sincerely hoped that she still didn't think so, but after all she went through, she was entitled to. What Ami and Makoto told her though, seemed to be changing her mind.

"Minako," He ventured, evoking no response. "Minako," He tried again, "Are you alright?"

She blinked suddenly and seemed to come back to life. "I'm fine," She said quietly.

"I don't know. You haven't said anything since Makoto and Ami left." He padded off the bed and jumped onto the window sill. "You're thinking about what they said?"

Minako sighed and scratched the back of his ears. "Of course I am." He resisted the urge to purr, although he wanted to. Minako laughed dejectedly at him before sighing again. "What am I going to do?"

He gave in and purred. "I wish I could tell you. This is something only you can figure out."

"Is this some kind of messed up senshi test? Is somebody in Crystal Tokyo laughing at me right now?"

Artemis nudged her with his head. "Would you stop talking like that? You say that you don't believe in destiny anymore, well then why don't you change it. Do something and stop avoiding the situation."

Minako crossed her arms indignantly. "I'm not avoiding anything." Artemis looked at her as seriously as a cat could. Her irritation melted away and he registered the longing in her eyes. "I miss her."

"I know." He nudged her again.

She scratched his head gratefully, even smiling.

Rei grunted as she pulled the arrows out of the target, the spot she had hit twelve times in a row. She found that, for whatever strange reason, she was a better archer when her body was tense; a fact that befuddled her grandfather who watched her with delight.

"My child, you are truly perplexing," He chuckled, as she let lose another one perfectly, "What if I asked you to relax as you practiced?"

She shrugged, "I'll try."

The old man's mystified expression would've been comical if Rei was in a better mood, as she missed the target board completely in her attempt to relax. She shrugged again, "I guess that doesn't work."

Before her grandfather could reply, Yuuichiro meekly called for Rei's attention. "Um, Rei-san, there's someone here to see you."

She turned her back to him, aiming another arrow, "I don't want to see anyone right now, tell them to come tomorrow."

"Rei," She was surprised that he was still there, but he seemed determined, "You should come. It's Minako."

The old man ducked, a misfired arrow barely missing his bald head.

She swallowed as she waited for Yuuichiro to find her, still not sure what she was doing there. She mused over how long she hadn't been at the shrine, than stopped herself, realizing she had no idea what to say to Rei. There wasn't much she could say, considering she had refused to forgive her the last time they met.

Rei, still carrying her bow, stopped abruptly as she rounded the corner and saw Minako. Sighing, she slowly went to her, wondering why she would be there, after outright refusing her forgiveness just a few days ago.

Minako inhaled sharply as she looked up from her shoes and saw the miko suddenly standing before her. "Hi…"

"Hi," Rei licked her lips nervously.

The blonde was at a loss for words after that. She had hardly an idea of why she was there, let alone what to say now. "…Were you busy?" She asked lamely, looking at the bow.

Rei looked at the bow too, stupidly still holding it, she chuckled quietly and dropped it right there. "No, not really." _What the hell do you want?_, she screamed in her head. "Um… so… You came… because…?"

Biting her lip and not having enough courage to look at Rei directly, she squeaked out an answer, "I thought maybe we should, um, talk."

"Talk?" Bewildered, Rei tried to look her in the eyes, but she wouldn't permit. The miko ran a hand through her dark hair, her frustration becoming apparent. "You want to talk now? I really don't understand, why—"

"Listen," Minako put a hand up, before she got started. "I had a conversation with Ami and Mako-chan. And I guess, they told you the same things."

"Oh," Rei looked away disappointed, "You want to talk about _that_. Okay, but not out here, where Grandpa can hear us. "What about," She looked at Minako cautiously, "My room?"

To her surprise the blonde shrugged, "Sure."

They sat at the edge of Rei's bed with enough space in between as to let the silence be the only thing that remained awkward. After enough dreadfully quiet minutes, Rei decided to speak first, "So… Ami and Makoto, that was surprising, huh?"

"Oh, oh yeah, can you believe it? I would've never guessed…"

"Hmm, me neither."

Silence again. Rei drummed her fingers on the bed, almost angry at how useless her being there was.

"This is… probably a bad idea." Minako seemed to have read her mind.

"Probably," Rei agreed agitatedly, "Why did you come here anyway?"

Sighing, the blonde rose from her seat. Yes, it was a very bad idea. But still with nothing contrived to say, she whispered the truth,"I just wanted to see you."

The confession made Rei's dark eyebrows furrow together, trying to understand. She rose out of her seat too, unsure of what to say next. She asked in a low voice to Minako's back, "Why would you want to do that? I thought you hated me."

Minako could feel her warm presence right behind her, but still couldn't bring herself to look at her. "I did," she admitted unabashedly. "But, I guess I don't now."

Rei couldn't contain the urge to look into Minako's blue eyes any longer. She grabbed her by the shoulder and spun her around, forcing her piercing eyes into hers. "You're confusing the hell out of me Minako. Does this mean you forgive me?"

"Rei…" Those violet eyes were almost too much to hold up against, Minako again at a loss for words. She whispered that miko's name again, and it was apparent to Rei that she indeed no longer hated her. There was a quality in her voice that Rei was overjoyed to hear, longing, affection, forgiveness.

She wanted to say more, ask more questions, work it all out, but in the space of time that they looked at each other, Minako's hands came up to tug at the front of her shrine robe and in a dreamlike state leaned in and kissed her. Surprised as she was, it took Rei a few seconds to respond, but when she did, it was with unrestrained fervor.

It was as if they were possessed, suddenly forgotten everything that had occurred minutes, days, weeks ago. Clothing was ripped off, mouths melted together, hands caressed and clawed, legs wrapped around each other, frustrations were relieved.

Somewhere in the midst of the heat their eyes met again, and Rei tried unsuccessfully to find something recognizable behind Minako's gaze, clouded by the thick haze of lust that was matched in her own. Her eyes closing in sweet pleasure, she wanted to stop thinking, but couldn't.

It felt good, but it didn't feel right.

_Still one more chpt to go, if anyone is still interested. I had a very loooong case of writer's block.  
The Chemicals Between Us - Bush_


	10. Ten

_Is this just a silly game  
That forces you to act this way  
Forces you to scream my name  
Then pretend that you can't stay  
Tell me, who I have to be  
To get some reciprocity  
No one loves you more than me  
And no one ever will_

I keep letting you back in  
How can I explain myself  
As painful as this thing has been  
I just can't be with no one else  
See I know what we got to do  
You let go and I'll let go too  
'Cause no one's hurt me more than you  
And no one ever will

Makoto looked around, wondering why the park seemed deserted in the middle of an afternoon. She looked up at the suddenly gray sky just as a drop of water hit her forehead. With a sigh she moved from the bench she had been occupying to a nearby gazebo. Once underneath she nearly laughed at the irony, waiting for Freddy to arrive so she could break up with him, now in the exact same place he dumped her seemingly ages ago.

"Babe!" She cringed as she heard his voice from behind her. Turning around slowly she saw him running towards her, using a newspaper as a shield from the increasing rain.

He shook his shaggy locks, spraying drops of water on her.

"Freddy!"

"Oh, sorry Babe. Not my fault, you're the one who wanted to meet out here. Didn't you watch the forecast today? Never mind, we have a bigger problem."

Makoto crossed her arms. She was starting to feel less guilty about dumping him. "What's the problem 'we' have?"

"I went home today and all my stuff was in the hallway! It's like reverse burglary or something!"

"Well, that seems to be more your problem than mine."

He squinted at her, brushing wet hair away from his eyes. "What's up with you? That time of the month or something?"

Makoto's hands flexed at her sides, curbing her first instinct of slugging him on the jaw. "No," She replied patiently, "But you were right before, we do have a problem. Freddy, listen…" She paused, searching for the right words. Not finding them, nor caring, she settled for the simplest. "You have to move out. I can't be with you anymore."

It was a few seconds before he fully comprehended what she had said. "Are you—are you kidding? 'Cause it's not funny."

"It isn't", Makoto shook her head, "But I'm not kidding."

A hand came up to run through his uncombed hair as he paced around. Makoto waited.

"Why?" He finally said, "I thought we had something good Makoto! Is this because I forgot to pay my half of the rent last month?"

"I just can't be with you anymore." She sighed, looking away from his hurt face. "Sorry."

Freddy's shoulders drooped, staring into the back of her head with wide eyes. "Makoto…"

She frowned hearing him begin to whimper. "Come on Freddy, don't make this bad. I don't want to turn around and see you crying."

"Too bad!" He shouted, wiping his eyes with his jacket sleeve. "I don't understand what happened to you. You said you wanted to be with me, what happened?"

Reluctantly, Makoto faced him. "Things change," She said weakly, contemplating revealing the entire truth to him. She shook her head; he was already in a pitiful state. "I'm sorry, but that's how it is."

"Is it another dude? 'Cause that's real foul, Makoto."

Makoto swallowed, "I can tell you with the utmost sincerity, that it is not 'another dude'."

"Then what the fuck is it? You can't do this to me!"

"You're taking this way too hard."

"How the fuck am I supposed to take it?"

"Try thinking about how you dumped me, I'm sure you'll be inspired." Makoto responded cuttingly to his sudden anger.

He replied with a frustrated yell, kicking at the gazebo floor with his sneaker toe. "What is this? What, are you trying to get revenge for something that happened years ago, you crazy bitch?"

"No." Makoto's voice was hard; she had reached her tolerance limit for her once again 'old sempai'. "Revenge would be telling you that I've been cheating on you with Ami for almost as long as I've been with you."

The expression change on Freddy's face was curious. "Ami? Little blue-haired chick?"

"That's her." Makoto crossed her arms, wondering what was going through his head. She was mildly surprised when he began to smile, a sleazy half smirk. Again she restrained herself from knocking his teeth out. "You're a sick human being, Freddy. And I'll be glad if I don't see you again for the rest of my life."

She left him standing on the gazebo, not bothering to shield herself from the downpour.

"You're soaked," Were Ami's words upon opening her apartment door and finding Makoto dripping in front of her.

Makoto grinned, "No, I'm free." Unable to control herself she threw her arms around Ami, lifting her off the ground and squealing ecstatically into her neck.

"Makoto! Makoto, please put me down!" Ami pleaded in a low voice.

"I can't. I'm too happy."

"My mother's home."

Ami found the floor beneath her feet once again. Her mother's voice beckoned her from inside. "Yes, mother. Come in, you'll need to change your clothes."

Makoto hesitated as Ami took her hand to lead her in. "I don't know how I feel about getting naked while your mother's home."

Ami smiled despite herself. "When I said 'change', I meant 'change'. Nothing else."

"You didn't… tell your mother… _anything_… did you?" Makoto asked cautiously.

"Oh Kami no!" Ami answered surprisingly quickly. "There was so much trouble with Freddy, and Usagi and everything else… You wouldn't mind if my mother was in the dark for a bit, would you?"

Makoto sighed in utter relief. "Not at all. We deserve an intermission before more drama."

Ami only laughed, pulling her inside.

* * *

Rei watched as Minako's breath came back to her, her chest rising and falling as she panted quietly, eyes closed. Limbs still trembling, Rei turned from her back onto her side, reaching out to touch the blonde. Rei smiled at her as her blue eyes came open. The smile faltered as Minako ignored it, rising slowly and drawing her knees to her chest.

"What's wrong?" She asked immediately.

"Nothing," Minako hastened to assure her, meeting her eyes for a second before turning away again, "I just haven't done that in a while, that's all."

Rei relaxed, "Oh." She lay back down, folding her hands behind her head. "It sure didn't feel like it," She chuckled, but brought no response from Minako. The blonde only threw the covers aside, getting up and finding her randomly strewn clothing.

"Where are you going?"

Minako glanced at her briefly, hesitating. "Home," She said quietly, slipping her shirt over head.

Rei sprung out of bed, wrapping the sheets around her nude form. "Why? Stay a little. We should," She paused, watching Minako deliberately pull her socks on, "talk about this. About _us_."

The blonde continued dressing, flashing her cloudy eyes over Rei. "I have to get home. I didn't mean to… stay. My parents will be wondering."

"It's five in the afternoon! And it's raining." Rei pleaded, not understanding her at the moment. Minako had come to her house wanting to talk, but kissed her instead, setting off the intense physical reunion that Rei now needed to validate with an explanation. Minako however, was not prepared to give one.

"Sorry, but I have to." She ran her fingers through her hair and straightened her mussed bow, heading for the bedroom door.

Rei hurried to follow her, wrapping the sheets around her nude body. "Hey," She grabbed her arm in desperation, but let it go immediately after Minako's alarmed reaction, "Sorry. But… don't you have anything to say about what just happened?"

"Is it really necessary to say anything?"

"Yes!" Rei shouted, becoming frustrated. She swallowed, "You didn't say if you forgive me or not."

Minako looked at her, eyebrows furrowed. Her sudden frown made Rei wince. "I have to go."

She was ten steps away before Rei could say anything else. Suddenly drained and listless, the miko slumped back to her bedroom, passing her confused grandfather and a slack-jawed Yuuichiro.

"Eh, Rei my child," Her grandfather began uneasily, "How did—did you two—eh—"

The miko rubbed her eyes, screaming, "_Why_ is she doing this to me?!"

They recoiled at her rage as she left them in the hallway, her bedroom door slamming shut behind her.

* * *

The customary walk to school in the morning proved an interesting one to Usagi, looking on with a pleased smile at Makoto and Ami's simple and subtle display of affection. She hung back with Minako as the other two walked in front, arms linked.

"Hey Mina-chan, what do you think of that?" Usagi pointed with her chin at their friends.

Minako looked up, distractedly. She shrugged, "What's there to think? It's just Ami-chan and Mako-chan."

"Are you telling me you don't see it? They're _so_ together!" The odangoed blonde whispered excitedly. "I wonder why they haven't said anything yet."

"As if they would. Usagi-chan, I need to tell—" Minako stopped as Ami and Makoto greeted Rei as she joined them.

"Hey Rei-chan!" Usagi waved, surprised to see her after having abandoned the walk for the past few weeks. Excited as she was, she remained unaware of Minako stiffening next to her.

"Hey," Rei replied quietly, eyes only on Minako. To her though she said nothing, only resuming the walk beside Ami.

Usagi noticed the obvious uneasiness between the two. Again she hung back with Minako, whispering, "Ami told me you were going to talk to Rei."

Minako swallowed, a sudden lump in her throat. "I did. And… Usagi, I'm the dumbest person in the entire universe."

"I don't understand. What happened, Mina-chan?" Usagi's blue eyes widened with concern, but there was no time for a reply as the group arrived at TA, Rei's stop.

Makoto rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly, not knowing what to say to Rei after so many weeks of disquiet and divergence. "So… should we stop back this afternoon?"

Makoto's effort was received with a small, but grateful smile. "Sure," Her eyes wandered to Minako, who was trying to look everywhere but at her. "Um… I'm having some trouble with physics; maybe we can have a meeting at the shrine?"

"Of course," Ami piped immediately.

Makoto too nodded. "Sure, Rei-chan. I'll bring brownies."

Rei coughed, noticing that neither Usagi nor Minako had said anything yet. "_Everyone_ can come…"

Usagi's concern for Minako subsided momentarily, realizing that Rei was talking about them. "I'll definitely be there. So will Mina-chan."

Minako looked up only to give Usagi a betrayed look. Her eyes glimpsed Rei's intense face for a second before finding the ground once again.

"Okay then. See you guys later." Not once did Rei's penetrating eyes leave the blonde until she finally turned to enter TA.

The remaining four stood for a few moments. Makoto looked at Minako, remembering what she had asked her to do the day before. Tired of the silence she said impertinently, "That was more awkward than it probably should've been. Anyway, let's not stand around here all day; we're going to be late."

Unaware of how to reply to that Minako and the other two simply followed her silently the rest of the way.

* * *

"Shit," Minako didn't bother to conceal her disappointment as Amagasaki-sensei handed a test back to her with a constipated frown.

"It looks like propriety along with algebra aren't your strong points, Aino." He told her, missing her eyes roll as he handed Ami's perfect scoring test back to her, "Get some help for the next one. You too, Tsukino."

Usagi frowned at her 47. "It's a good thing we're having a study meeting today, right Mina-chan? What'd you get?"

"Not even double-digits," She shoved the paper into her bag embarrassedly.

"Don't worry Mina-chan, we'll sort it all out this afternoon," Ami gave her a sympathetic smile, but it soon disappeared as Minako stiffened and avoided facing her. "You will come, won't you Mina-chan?"

"I'm sorry, Ami-chan. I'm not up for it right now."

Ami became concerned, more for Rei's feelings than anything else. She could see how much the miko wanted to see Minako, anyone could see it. "Please reconsider Mina-chan. Rei-chan really wants you to be there. I thought you two were talking again anyway, you told Mako-chan and I you would give her a chance."

"Yeah, you never finished explaining that," Usagi reminded her. "Did you talk to her or not?"

Minako looked at the ceiling so she wouldn't have to see their reactions to what she was about to tell them, "I… We did a little more than talk. Much more. Too much."

Ami put a shocked hand to her mouth while Usagi gasped, then squealed in delight. "You're back together?!" She threw her arms around Minako's neck, almost knocking her over and drawing the attention of the rest of the class.

"Knock that off!" Amagasaki-sensei roared.

Usagi returned to her own seat, but still grinned. Minako however put her face in her hands, sighing heavily.

"I don't think that's the case Usagi-chan," Ami said, looking at the blonde carefully.

"You're not back together?" She asked, disappointed.

Minako rubbed her temples, becoming fatigued. "No."

"Then why did you…"

"I don't know!"

Once again the eyes of the entire class were on Minako, disrupting the quiet with her outburst.

She sunk into her chair, "Sorry Sensei." Clearing her throat she attempted to explain herself to Usagi and Ami, "I went over there to talk, and it was awful. But then she grabbed me and I don't know what I said, then she asked if I forgave her or not."

"What did you say?" Ami asked anxiously.

Minako looked away again. "I didn't say anything. I kissed her."

"Do you forgive her though? If you kissed and everything…"

Minako shrugged. "I don't know. I missed her; I liked being with her again. And it was _so_ good…"

Ami blushed as Usagi giggled. "Well then it seems like you're more than ready to work it out. I know Rei-chan is. She's desperate for your forgiveness Mina-chan. Please come with us this afternoon."

Minako listened to Ami and with a sigh and agreed. "I guess I have to. Even Mako-chan looked pissed at me this morning."

"She did, didn't she?" Usagi noted, but turned a sly smile on Ami. "Ami-chan, why don't you say something to your _girlfriend_?"

Ami turned pink as Minako laughed and joined in, "Yeah, Ami-chan, I'm sure you know how to lighten her up."

"Pay attention to Sensei", She squeaked, covering her face with a notebook.

* * *

The study meeting was quiet. Usagi snored behind a textbook, but was not reprimanded by Ami, whose attention was given fully to Makoto's whisperings in her ear. Having given up on completing any physics homework, Rei watched their affectionate antics with a bitter look on her face, reminded that at one time, that would have been her and Minako. Minako herself was sitting as far away from Rei as she possibly could, doodling on her notebook cover idly.

Time passed like this until finally Makoto announced, "Well, Ami and I have to go."

"Walking her to cram school?" Usagi asked through a big yawn.

"Yes," Ami answered quickly as Makoto chuckled, deciding the real reason was not vital knowledge for her friends. "See you tomorrow!"

"I guess we should go too, Usagi-chan," Minako suggested, dying to get out of there.

Usagi looked at Rei, but the miko looked away. "Sure, Mina-chan."

"Minako," Rei finally said as they finished packing up, her voice even and casual, "I think you should stay."

Minako was surprised at her boldness. She looked to Usagi for rescuing, but the blonde intentionally turned the other way, knowing she could not, and would not, help her out of this. Realizing this, Minako's mouth tightened into a line, replying, "Why?"

"You know why."

It was all Rei had to say to get her to drop her bag back onto the floor and send Usagi out of the shrine with a hurried goodbye. She stood near the door with her back to Rei.

The miko sighed, standing up as well. "You can't just go on pretending like it never happened, Minako. It happened. And I think it happened for a reason."

"And what reason is that?" Minako asked curiously over her shoulder.

Rei smiled softly. She went silently to the blond, putting her arms around her waist. "You still love me," She whispered.

She closed her eyes, turning in Rei's arms to return the embrace. "I do still love you Rei." She let herself smile as the miko held her tighter, "I never stopped loving you."

"I knew it!" Rei rejoiced, kissing her cheek, "I knew you would forgive me. I knew we'd get back together…" She smiled uncontrollably, leaning in for a kiss. Minako, however, pulled away, keeping Rei at arm's length. She became worried suddenly; Minako's face not conveying the same emotions that Rei was feeling. "What?"

Minako could feel the tears begin to push at the back of her eyes. Rei's face fell as she began to cry. "Oh God… Minako, what is it?" She pleaded, holding her by the shoulders.

"I…" The blonde sniffed, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. She sighed, "Rei, I love you. But… I can't be with you."

Rei let go of her. She looked at Minako, obviously perplexed. "What—Minako that doesn't make any sense! Of course you can be with me!"

"No." She said calmly, though through some tears, "No, I can't."

"But you love me! And I love you, and you forgave me! How…" Rei paused, trying to keep her own emotions in check, "How can you not want to be with me?"

Minako wiped her tears away even as they continually poured out of her eyes. She tried to keep it together, for the sake of expressing her feelings frankly. "I don't trust you anymore Rei. I _can't_ trust you anymore. And I can't be with someone I don't trust."

Rei's eyes glazed over. She snapped. "Then why the fuck did you fuck me!? Mina? What the fuck have I been doing if you 'can't' be with me? Why are you fucking with my head?"

"You wanted me to forgive you and you should be happy I even gave you that after what you did to me, Rei," Minako matched her intense glare, neck bulging as she screamed. "Don't you dare act like that you've been hurt more than I have."

Rei was appalled. "You don't know what I went through just to get my friends to speak to me again," She said in a menacingly low voice, "I was on my fucking _knees_, apologizing and explaining to more people than I needed to, just to get you to fucking talk to me again! I made one mistake Mina, one mistake. And I had to go through hell to get you to even listen to me. I wanted to work it out, I wanted to fix it, and you? You give me this bullshit."

"Oh my God, I can't believe you," Minako nearly laughed at Rei's absurd reasoning. "So you think all that you 'went through'" She said the phrase with air quotes, "Is somehow worse than you breaking my fucking heart? Rei, you hurt me. And you humiliated me. And you expect me to come back to you like it never happened?"

"No, I don't fucking expect that!" Rei roared, stomping to the other side of the room. "What I expected was…" The miko didn't even know what she expected. She closed her eyes, realizing that the situation right now, them yelling at each other, was the best she could have hoped for. After what she did, how could Minako trust her again?

It was hopeless, she realized. All her being had been put into getting Minako back, and now at this relatively late date, it was hopeless. She put a hand over her mouth, muffling the sudden violent sobs of despair.

Minako looked away. After everything, she still couldn't see Rei like that. "I'm sorry that this—I don't know. We should've never been together in the first place."

"Thanks for the fuckin' consolation." Rei said bitingly through her tears.

"God…" Minako sighed, the situation was unbearable, "Don't be angry—oh wait, I forgot who I was talking to. Let's just… let it be."

Rei nodded sarcastically, she was uncontrollably angry. "Yeah, let's do that. Let's make this whole thing more convenient for you. So you can move on and fuck with someone else's head."

"Oh yes, and while we're at it, you can find some other dumb blonde's heart to break. Maybe Usagi this time?"

"_What?!_" Rei screamed, unable to believe that she would bring up a long forgotten issue, once significant early in their relationship, "Don't start that shit now! You are so petty!"

Minako looked away again, somewhat ashamed that she had reached so low for a suitable comeback. "Sorry, I didn't mean to say that." She said quickly.

"You know what Minako," Rei said suddenly, "You're right. You're right, we can't be together, we shouldn't be together; I don't know why I wanted you back for so long anyway, because right now I hate you."

"Oh you hate me? That's great, because I hate you too." Minako spat back at her, grabbing her bag off the floor and heading for the door. "I don't even know how I could've fallen in love with such an arrogant, nasty, overbearing bitch like you."

Rei followed her to the door, throwing it open. "I can't even imagine how I could've been with a crazy, fickle, mind-fuck like you for as long as I was."

"Well you managed to even fuck that up didn't you?"

"Minako," Rei gritted her name out through clenched teeth.

"What?" Minako replied staring her in the face, their noses almost touching, and the feeling of mutual disgust and anger emanating from them.

Rei stared her down. Minako's sky blue eyes, for once, matched the intensity of the miko's. After a few seconds, Rei closed the door again.

"That's the _last_ time," Minako announced, picking her school uniform up from the floor. "Where's my bow?"

Rei handed it to her, sighing heavily.

Minako looked at her. "Seriously."

"I get it. I didn't forget all that stuff you were screaming at me earlier." She finally picked herself up off the floor and donned her shrine robes as Minako continued to dress. "I'm sorry," she said, barely above a whisper, "For whatever I said before. I was angry." She finished with an embarrassed blush.

"Of course you were angry, what else would you be?"

"Hey, I'm trying to apologize!" Rei's voice rose, yet again. This time however, Minako grinned at her.

"Rei, I was teasing. Jeez…"

Rei smiled despite herself. "'Of course you were, what else would you do?'" She mocked Minako, who chuckled, throwing the comb she was using at her. "Seriously though Mina—I mean Mina-chan. We're fine, right?"

Minako looked at her, nodding. "I guess we are, yeah. As long as we can be friends, like we were before."

Rei closed her eyes, she didn't know if she had it in her to ever just see Minako as a friend again. But she couldn't say that. "Sure we can."

"Rei…-chan," Minako started awkwardly as she gathered her things to go, for the third time, "It's good that there's finally some closure. Let's put this behind us."

Rei quelled the instant contradictory replies that popped into her head. "Yeah, closure. Well, see you tomorrow morning."

Minako kissed her cheek, "Bye, Rei-chan."

Rei waved to the back of her blond head. "Bye Mina."

* * *

My thoughts on finally completing this fic:

Fin. Finally. Thanks for reading, don't hate me! I think this is a realistic ending to my saga. I know it has a kind of "to be continued" feel to it, I wanted to leave the option of a sequel or something open. But it stands well on it's own too. Honestly, readers, I may re-write that last bit, it's not really what I had planned. But once I started writing, I just let myself go and that's what I ended up with. Oh well.

I know I hadn't mentioned the "Usagi" part of the argument in previous chapters, but I figured it's a staple and a pretty predictable argument that Rei and Minako would have if they ever had a relationship. Obviously, IMO, Rei at one point had a thing for Usagi, and that's something Minako probably wouldn't just swallow. Now that I think of it, it could've been a juicy piece of drama. Well, there's always next time.

Any other inconsistencies? I mean, besides my updates? I hope I disposed of Freddy properly, I feel like I did. Didn't mention crime-fighting, youma, and the Outers much, mainly because I didn't know how to fit them into this drama-centric story. I don't think it matters much.

When it comes down to it, I just wanted to write a fic where the senshi act like what they are, teenage girls. Sure they're teenage girls who will live for an infinite number of years, but they probably still have sex drives and break hearts and get heartbroken and fight and argue and so on. Hope I accomplished getting that across.

Well, thanks readers and reviewers for waiting it out, I appreciate it. Until next time.

_Lauryn Hill - Ex-factor_


End file.
